


How to Secure and Contain the Diclonius Virus to Protect Humanity.

by JokingReaper



Category: Elfen Lied, SCP Foundation
Genre: Action/Adventure, Earn Your Happy Ending, Family Feels, Happy Ending, Horror, Justice, Power of Love, Power of Words, Psychological Horror, Redemption, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Well Intended Manipulator, manipulative bastard, supernatural powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 07:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 35
Words: 95,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24467098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JokingReaper/pseuds/JokingReaper
Summary: Lucy returns to Kouta's house after surviving the battle against the military forces of the Diclonius Research Institute. Wounded, she collapses to the ground and Kouta and the rest of his family will try to save her life.Dr. Arakawa, the former assistant of Dr. Kakuzawa, is now being forced to work for his father, Chief Director Kakuzawa, the main leader of the Diclonius Research Institute, who is now seeking to release the Diclonius Virus and replace Humanity with the new species of humans. However, Arakawa has no intentions of letting this happen so easily, so she has contacted the only other organization that can confront both the threat of the Diclonious, and the Diclonius Research Institute at the same time: The SCP Foundation.Dr. Jack Bright, the immortal body snatcher working for the Foundation is appointed to Secure and Contain this anomaly, and Protect humanity from the spreading of this disease. With no shortage of wits, and the usage of other SCP objects, the military Mobile Task Forces at his disposal, and his own madness, he will attempt to ensure the containment of this threat, no matter the cost.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 17





	1. 'Extinction' is such an ugly word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work got accidentally deleted while making a clean-up... sorry for the inconvenience, but here it is restored in its full and original form.

As the wooden box with the "lilium" inscription stopped playing its music, the wall clock started ringing.

"The clock is working?" asked Kouta to himself. And a sudden sensation of desperation invaded him. He noticed a shadow standing in front of the door. It couldn't be...

He rushed to the door, and in an impulse he opened it. There was a horrifying sight. The pink hair with red stains, her horns were no longer there. The bloodied face, and a blood trail from the street to the girl's feet. An almost blank stare on her eyes, and her slight movement back and forward as if she would be dizzy.

"Kouta..." she whispered, as she fell on her knees, and her head hit him lightly on the stomach. He held her on his arms before she fell to the ground completely, as she had passed out.

"Nyu..." he whispered "HELP!" he screamed "YUKA! NANA! MAYU! Somebody help!" He turned her over so she would be facing up. He noticed that the blood was coming from holes in her arms and legs. Clear bullet markings. What on Earth had happened to her?

"Kouta! what are you screaming abou...? NYU!" yelled Yuka as soon as she came out from the house.

"Miss Lucy!" said Nana seeing her body covered in blood.

"Oh dear!" said Mayu covering her face in shock.

"We have to take her inside! Help me!" Said Kouta holding her, trying to drag her body.

Yuka and Nana picked her from the legs, and drove her to the lower level's room, where Mayu had unrolled a sleeping bed to place her on.

As soon as she was laid on the bed, Kouta noticed that she was still losing a lot of blood.

"We have to do something!" He said as he rushed to pick some clothes that he used as tourniquets to tie around her legs and arms, trying to prevent any more blood loss.

Yuka saw that Lucy's face was too pale, and took her pulse. It was weak.

"She's dying." She said worried. "We have to take her to a hospital."

"No! What if the police comes looking for her? or those people that were hunting her?"

"Kouta, we must take her to a hospital. Otherwise she will die here." said Yuka with a very worried look on her face.

Yuka was right. Lucy was dying. It was dangerous to take her anywhere right now, but if she died, then there would be no difference anyway.

"Call an ambulance." He said reluctantly, but firm.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The ambulance allowed only one familiar to go with them to the hospital. Nana had asked to be the one accompanying Lucy, because, in her own words "I'm the only one capable of restraining her if she goes berserk." The paramedics managed to put Lucy in a stable state, and helped prevent anymore blood loss with more appropriate methods and an emergency blood transfusion. At the hospital, Lucy had been sent immediately to emergency, where she received several pints of blood transfusion, and was sent into the operations room to remove the bullets from her body. By the end of it all, the doctors pulled out 14 bullets from her arms and legs, and the procedure had lasted over 10 hours.

Kouta had been waiting at the hospital for the entire time. Despite being worried about her, he also felt some resentment towards her. After all, she was still responsible for the murder of his father and sister. And yet a part of him still wanted to forgive her. But that would have been an insult to their memory, so he just couldn't.

During the time that the entire procedure had taken, Nana had thought about telling Kouta what she knew about the people that were hunting Lucy. Nana had promised her surrogate father, Dr. Kurama, that she would keep secrecy... so she tried to keep quiet about it. That is until she saw people entering the same hospital, wearing the symbols of the Diclonius Research Institute, agents that were being sent after being severely injured, mutilated, and even killed in 'Some kind of battle', as a nurse had described. She was used to fear for herself, after all she had been experimented on and tortured for years. But this time she was afraid of someone hurting Lucy or anyone else from her family. She did not want to go back to the Institute. She remembered the pain and hurt from the experiments she had endured because her 'dad' had asked her, and sometimes gave her some tenderness in exchange. But now she knew what it truly meant to have a family, and someone caring for her... she was not going to give up on that so easily. She couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"Mr Kouta, Sir..." said Nana to the young man. "There is something we need to talk about."

"Are you alright?" asked Kouta. "You seem very concerned. What is it?"

Nana tried to organize her ideas, and started to tell her story:

"I think there is some trouble." She said

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I saw some people with the symbols of the institute here at the hospital."

"What institute?"

"The institute that tried to capture Miss Lucy and me at the bridge."

"You mean those people are here?!" he could not hide the fear from getting through his voice.

"I'm not sure... the people I saw seemed to be injured. Maybe they were unconscious. But if there is anyone looking for us, then it's dangerous to stay here."

Kouta thought for a while in silence.

"If there is any possibility that they try to attack any of us, then it's better to find a way to leave this place quickly. Unfortunately, Lucy just came out of a severe surgery. And we can't just move her so soon. But I promise you we will stay hidden as much as we can. Stay with her in the room until further notice. And if there is any sign of trouble, even if it's just a slight suspicion... do whatever you need to do to keep yourself and Lucy safe... just try not to hurt anyone in the process. We will get through this... I promise you that."

Nana took a deep breath and said "Thank you Mister Kouta." and they started walking to Lucy's room, waiting for her to wake up.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy woke up, and as she opened her eyes, she noticed the sun shining through the closed curtains. She was in a bed, but she didn't recognized her surroundings. However, beside her she saw the now familiar face of Yuka, she seemed to be sitting on a chair, asleep. An impulse to attack her overcame Lucy. She tried to reach her with her vectors... but they did not come out... her vectors were blocked.

"W-What the hell?" she said out loud.

Yuka heard it and that woke her up "Nyu! My goodness! You are finally awake!" she said jumping up from the chair, and gently placing her hand on Lucy's forehead. Lucy flinched a little, but when she felt the warm hand on her skin, and the sweet smile on Yuka, a part of her felt more at ease.

"What are you doing here?" said Lucy.

"What do you mean?" said Yuka "I'm taking care of you, of course."

"Where am I?"

"In a hospital, you arrived to our house covered in blood and bullet wounds. Do you remember anything? Are you feeling alright? Please don't tell me you have lost your memory." said Yuka worried.

Lucy started to remember... the battle at the bridge... it had happened so fast... she had beaten them all, and barely escaped alive... everything else afterwards was just blurry... she had bumbled through the streets, but could not recall how she had arrived at Kouta's house.

"I haven't lost my memory... I just don't remember how I got here..."

"We brought you here."

"'We'?"

"Yes... all of us... Me, Mayu, Nana, and Kouta. You do remember us, right?"

"Kou...ta..." She remembered him alright. "Where is he?"

"Oh... we have been taking turns to watch over you." said Yuka caressing Lucy's head with tenderness. "They are at the waiting room right now. I should give them a call, and let them know you are awake."

Lucy felt Yuka's hand over her forehead, and suddenly felt a heavy sensation crushing her chest... she had felt an instinct to harm her before... she would have regretted it so much if her vectors would not have been blocked.

Yuka called a nurse to check on Lucy, and then called Kouta on his cellphone, and informed the others of the situation. While the nurse tried to take Lucy's vital signs, she pushed her away, and the nurse fell to the ground... Lucy had felt as if she would be in another experiment.

"Nyu!" said Yuka surprised and worried. "Why did you do that?" she turned to the nurse and tried to apologize to her on behalf of Lucy, but the latter just groaned.

"Nobody is going to experiment on me anymore" she said, with rage on her eyes.

"Nyu..." Yuka's voice showed more compassion than anger. And then she turned to the nurse and said "Could you please leave us for a moment?" which the nurse did.

Yuka took the chair and placed it near Lucy's bed, she placed her hands over hers, then looked into her eyes and said "Nyu... I don't know what has happened in your life, and I would understand if you don't want to talk about it. But nobody is trying to hurt you here. These doctors and nurses worked very hard to save your life, they just want to help you."

Lucy, still remembering all the needles she had been stabbed with at the labs, all the monsters in white coats that had tortured her... she could not trust them... but something on Yuka's gestures reminded her of Kouta's kindness... she could trust her... Yuka would not let anyone harm her, not if she could prevent it.

"I'm sorry" said Lucy "I won't do that again."

"That's OK" Afterwards she called the nurse again, and this time Lucy let her take her vitals, then the nurse gave her some pills that she had to take every eight hours to minimize the pain after the surgery and prevent any infection.

After some time there was a knock at the room's door. Yuka opened it, and through it jumped Nana that threw herself on Lucy and hugged her. "Miss Lucy!!!" she yelled in joy "We were so worried about you!!! But you are safe, and you are alive, and you finally woke up!!!" Lucy felt so awkward. She had torn Nana's arms and legs during their first fight, and yet, there she was... hugging her with as much strength as she would have done with her most intimate friend. Lucy wanted to hug her back with as much strength as she, but something inside her prevented her from doing it... so she just placed one hand on her back and said just over her breath "Th-thanks."

"Nana..." said another soft voice coming from the door "could you give her some space to breath?" said Mayu coming through slowly while Nana let go of her and moved aside. Mayu walked to the side of the bed, and gave a reverence to Lucy, and said "Good afternoon, miss Nyu. We were all hoping that you got better. May I please hug you?"

Lucy's eyes widened... she didn't know what to say... Did she want that? She didn't say anything, she just opened her right arm a little, and Mayu placed herself inside it, while putting one of her arms around Lucy's neck. This one was even more awkward, despite the fact that they had never really hurt each other. The hug lasted just some seconds, and Mayu moved away.

Finally, standing at the door, Lucy noticed the person she had hurt the most from all the people in that room, and the person she loved the most. Kouta was looking inside the room, in her direction. But as soon as she looked at him to meet his eyes, he looked away, with a sad expression on him, and noticing it, she lowered her sight onto the floor, ashamed and saddened.

"Hello" he said, still not looking at her directly.

"H-hi" she replied

"I'm glad you are awake."

"Y-You are?" she said surprised. "Ah... I mean... thanks."

Then there was silence... that Kouta himself interrupted saying "Yuka, please keep Lucy and Nana here. They must not get out from this room unless strictly necessary. Nana saw some people that might be here to hunt them." Yuka flinched away, but before she could say anything, Kouta just said "I will leave you with them for a moment... I need to... ahm... go to the bathroom." he said, and left. Yuka understood that he was just giving an excuse to take a moment and think for a while, but why? She didn't know about Lucy's roll in his family's murder, but before she could say anything, he was gone.

Lucy could not say anything, she just felt as her heart crushed again, and even when she tried to hold it back... she started crying. The other girls stood next to her, and hugged her, trying to bring some comfort, even when they did not fully understand what had happened between Kouta and her.

Kouta could hear her sobbing from outside the room, and he stopped walking, wondering if he should go back... and then kept on walking.

Kouta wandered the hospital for a while, just to make some time. Then, while walking through the halls, just near the bathrooms, he thought he heard a familiar voice... He turned his head, and he recognized the black hair in a ponytail, the squared glasses, and the white coat... She was Dr. Arakawa, the former assistant of professor Kakuzawa, until his death by decapitation at the hands of Lucy. How he hated the memory of that horror show... but still... Arakawa seemed to be very stressed talking on the phone.

"...Yes, up to one thousand per year." she said to the phone "Yes, each of them" she paused for a moment "What? No, I don't know what 'SK-class dominance-shift' means" she paused for a second, and then continued with a shakey voice "No, I don't understand what 'DK-class world-wide-conflict' means either. What the hell are you talking about?" her eyes widened "Extinction?!" she screamed in horror "What extinction?! For Christ-sake, stop laughing, it's not funny! What does that even have to do with what's going on?... Slow down, I can hardly understand what you say..." She turned her head and saw Kouta, staring at her. She recognized him immediately, and her expression changed as if she would have seen a ghost. She then said to the phone "I'll call you back later, something happened." She hanged up and walked towards him. Kouta tried to turn around and walk away but she grabbed him by the arm and with a somewhat angry whisper said "I need to talk to you." And she dragged him to the women's bathroom, where she shoved him inside of one of the stalls.

Kouta felt very uncomfortable as soon as she entered the stall and locked both doors behind her, from the bathroom in general and the stall.

"Don't get any funny ideas, this is important." She said severely. "I know who you are, and I know where you live. And I also know you're the most likely person to be hiding the woman with horns. Well... Where is she?"

"She's dead" he said.

"If she were dead we would have found her body. Don't lie to me."

"Why would I lie?" he said.

"To protect her, obviously. Where is she?"

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. You would simply drag her into a laboratory and torture her."

"No! That's exactly what I want to avoid." She fell silent for a moment. She couldn't blame him for distrusting anyone at the moment. "Alright, I have to explain this to you in more detail. The institute I work at is led by someone that I think wants to destroy the world as we know it. That girl must be kept away from him at all costs. But even on her own she could bring that same destruction if left unchecked."

"What are you talking abo...?" He said confused, but he thought about it for a second. "She... really is destructive... But even with all her strength she could not be a threat to the whole world... I mean, she has killed a lot of people but she is very vulnerable too."

"That's not what I mean!" she said. "Look, I can't explain anything further than this, not here. There are too many ears and eyes near this place. But I need to talk this further with you. I will go to your home during this week, I don't know when will I be able to, but we have to talk further. I already know your address, you don't have to lie to me about it. We will just talk, and nothing else."

She unlocked the stall door, and walked out, but before opening the bathroom door, she turned around and said "I might have to bring one more person with me. He might have something to say too." And like that, she left the bathroom, and Kouta followed soon after. Unexpectedly, he found Yuka right outside of it, and she had seen him coming out of the women's bathroom.

"Hello, Kouta." She said with a wide smile on her face. "Care to explain what were you doing in the women's bathroom?"

"I-I... well... y-you see... ah... there was this girl that... ah..."

SLAP

Yuka slapped him across the face with so much force that her fingers got marked on his cheek. "Don't be looking on girls in the bathroom again!"

"It wasn't my fault! The girl dragged me!"

"Yeah, sure..." she said sarcastically.

"It's serious!" Kouta realized that if what Arakawa had said was true, then she would be going to their home soon enough. Whether or not she was to be trusted, she would still pose a threat to all of them if she got to know that Lucy or even Nana were living with them. They all had to know. "Yuka. I know you are angry right now, but trust me when I tell you this. EVERYONE must know what just happened in that bathroom."

"Eww. You are a pig!"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy, Nana and Mayu were discussing a little more about what the diclonius actually were. After all, Mayu already knew that both of them had the "vectors" that Nana had mentioned. Lucy seemed to start enjoying the company of a human that wasn't trying to judge her because of them. Strangely enough, despite the fact that both were diclonius, neither one of them knew exactly what they were, but Lucy said something about being a different "species" to humans. But as soon as Kouta and Yuka entered Lucy's room, everyone went quiet and the ambience got tenser. Lucy lowered her head avoiding Kouta's eyes. "Awkward silence" did not quite described the tone of the scene. And in the end, the silence was broken by Yuka.

"How are you feeling Nyu?"

"A little better I think..." she answered.

"Do you think you can have a conversation and follow it up?" asked Yuka again.

"I was just doing that, I believe."

"Good, good." Yuka turned her head and said "Kouta, you wanted to tell us something?"

"Yes." Kouta's voice turned serious and sombre "I'm afraid that we might be in danger." Everyone flinched "Nana warned us that the people of the institute that were hunting her and Nyu are here in this hospital. And unfortunately I found one of them in the hallways." Lucy and Nana exchanged looks and stared at him now. "For now she doesn't seem to know were you two are, but she suspects about Nyu hiding with me, or that I know her whereabouts, there are more details that you need to know, but I rather not to tell them here in case someone is eavesdropping. Also if there are more people here looking for any of you, then it will be a matter of time before they come looking in here. So we must leave this place as soon as possible." he turned his eyes onto Lucy and said. "Nyu, do you think you can walk? or move? or do you think you could sit down on a wheelchair hidden until we leave this place?"

Lucy was in disbelieve. Why was he helping her? He already knew who she was. He knew who destroyed his family. He knew what she was. He knew everything. Why? Why was he still...?

"I... I think I could use the wheelchair." she said, but she didn't want to mention her vectors being blocked "I can't move very well. My body hurts when I do."

"Very well. Mayu, could you go get a wheelchair? Don't ask anyone for it, if you find one take it and bring it here."

"Wouldn't that be... stealing?" she answered with a worried expression.

"Mayu, I don't like being a bad example for you, but this is a matter of life or death. This is not a joke or something we can take any chances with. Having said that, as soon as we have a chance we will give it back. But right now, we can't tell anyone about taking Nyu out, and we still need that wheelchair."

"Very well mister Kouta" answered Mayu and went obediently to find one.

"Yuka," continued Kouta "we need to cover Nyu's and Nana's heads with something to hide their horns and faces. Do you have anything we could use?"

"I have a hat that one of them could use, and a coat we could wrap on the other. I think it would be better if Nana uses the hat and Nyu the coat. If someone looks at Nyu with it, we could say that she needed something to cover her from the sun or something else."

"Good enough." said Kouta.

After some minutes of tense waiting, Mayu entered the room again, pushing a black wheelchair with her. Kouta and Yuka got up to try to move Lucy onto it, but Nana was quicker, and used her vectors to pick her up and move her.

Mayu and Yuka were shocked at seeing Lucy float on the air towards the wheelchair, and Kouta simply felt a disturbingly familiar sensation by it. He could almost see the distortion in light caused by the presence of the vectors beneath Lucy, and he could not avoid feeling sickened by them. As for Lucy, she felt the threat of Nana's vectors coming for her, but was surprised when, instead of tearing her to pieces, they carried her safely onto the wheelchair.

After some last preparations, to hide the horns of Nana and Lucy, they left the room alongside Kouta, Yuka and Mayu. They passed before a man that seemed to be jumping on a single leg because there was a cast on the other one and was asking if somebody had seen his wheelchair that "was just right here a moment ago".

Kouta recognized the Institute's symbol on some of the people in the hospital. But most of them were too busy trying to find someone else to notice them, so they were able to reach the exit without any major incidents.

They asked for a taxi, and when they finally arrived home, there was a strange relieve in all of them, except in Kouta, that still needed to tell them the rest of the story, and he couldn't just waste any more time. So as soon as he thought that they were alone, he gathered them around and said:

"We need to find a way to hide Nyu and Nana from the institute. The person that contacted me, was doctor Arakawa, the former assistant for doctor Kakuzawa. She said that she knew where I live and that she would come here this week to talk about something. She said something about keeping Nyu away from the institute, but that she was a danger to the world or something like that. Maybe she is not really working for the institute anymore, and that she has plans of her own. However there is no way to confirm this, so we need to think what we will do now."

"We could hunt her down." said Lucy with a tinge of blood-thirst in her eyes.

"Nyu!" said Yuka "Don't even joke about that!

"My name is LUCY!" she screamed "not Nyu. Nyu is gone. She was just a momentary phase I had, and she is gone now. My real name is Lucy. and you will call me by that name." she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "But I think I still have her memories."

Kouta looked at her with compassion and calmly told her: "Nyu... Ah... Lucy. Whoever you are... Yuka is trying to help you, we all are. If you want to be called Lucy, then we will, but don't be so rude to the rest of us just for that. We have bigger problems to focus on right now. And you were just talking about hunting down a person!" He wanted to keep on talking but he stopped himself before he could say anything too revealing. Lucy just looked away, trying to hold her anger and confusion from being noticed.

"When will she come here?" asked Mayu

"I don't know exactly." answered Kouta" She just said that it would be this week.

"Maybe we could hide them somewhere else?" continued Mayu "and it would have to be as soon as possible."

"It's a bad idea." Said Yuka "If there really are people hunting them, then that would put others in danger as well."

"I don't want to hide!" said Lucy defiantly.

"Me neither!" shot Nana.

"If we are hiding and they attack you," continued Lucy "we wouldn't be able to defend you. And if something bad would happen to you, Kouta, I..." she looked away, perhaps she really started to consider the possibility, and the true terror, of losing him, not just of saying good bye to him, but of truly him dying. That thought had brought a horrible burning sensation in her head and her chest.

Kouta noticed her distress, and said:

"We will be fine. If she wanted to hurt us, she would have done so already. After all, she did had some small backup from the institute at the hospital, and yet she didn't warn them about me, or the possibility of finding either of you with me. For now the best we can do is finding a place for your safety."

"I won't go." said Lucy again. "I'd rather be captured than seeing you harmed." she lowered her head again "I owe you far more than that." she fell on her knees and tears came on her eyes "Please! Let me protect you! Just this once! For all I took from you!"

"Lucy" said the compassionate voice of Yuka while putting her arms around her.

"I... I can't..." said Kouta's sorrowful voice. "I won't risk yo... We can't risk it. If they really are hunting you, then you are the ones to protect."

"Is there somewhere they can hide inside this place?" asked Mayu.

"Well..." said Yuka "the floor just above the first is made of wooden planks, and there are many layers of them. If we could open them carefully, we could make a hole big enough for them to fit, and cover them with the same wood planks. That could keep them hidden."

They thought about some other places, but admittedly, they were worse options, or not good enough as hide outs. So, reluctantly, Lucy and Nana accepted to hide beneath the floor upstairs. On one condition. If they were going to hide beneath a floor, it would be above the room where they would talk with Arakawa, so the floor above the living room would be where they would hide.


	2. A broken family is still a family

On the morning of the second day, Lucy heard a laughter coming from the backyard, and she felt curious to that, so she went to see for herself what was happening. There she found little Mayu playing with her dog 'Wanta', as she called it. The dog was belly up, and moving her foot while Mayu scratched her. She always spent a lot of time with that dog, every day.

Lucy liked dogs. They were better than most people, or so she had thought.

"Why do you spend so much time with her?" asked Lucy to Mayu.

"Because I love her." answered Mayu.

Lucy smiled. She thought for a second about the one dog she once had... so long ago... he too moved his foot when she scratched him.

"How did you get her?" She asked out of curiosity.

"I think she found me." answered back Mayu.

"I once had a dog too. He always waged his tail when he saw me. I fed him, and I loved him... But then I also had to bury him. It was one of the saddest days of my life."

Mayu stopped playing with Wanta for a second, picked her up in her hands and went to sit down next to Lucy.

"What happened to him?"

Lucy really didn't want to speak about it all. Yet, little Mayu handed her Wanta, and Lucy began to pat her... somehow the dog eased her troubled mind, and she started talking, without thinking too much...

"I was bullied when I was a little girl. I lived in an orphanage, so I never met my parents. I lived with other kids that were terribly bad to me. Always tried to find new ways to hurt me. I also met a girl that I thought was my friend. And I thought that telling her about my dog would make her take care of him if something happened to me. But in the end, she told the evil kids about it, and the evil kids took my dog, and killed him in front of me, just because they wanted to harm me."

Mayu lowered her head, thinking about how she would feel if something would happen to Wanta... she had saved her life, after all.

"My stepfather used to rape me." said Mayu letting it out in the open, with a monotonous tone, trying to sound distant, but only because deep down it still hurt so much.

Lucy looked at her surprised. She had never been raped. Only beaten, and imprisoned. But how long would it have taken the kids on the orphanage to actually try it? If she wouldn't have developed her vectors... If they would have lived... would they have actually tried to...? Also Dr. Kakuzawa had been very close to actually do so. The price he paid for that was his head.

"For a long time I thought it was my fault. Maybe I had done something to deserve it. Maybe I had been bad. Or maybe I had worn the wrong clothes. So I thought I deserved to be raped..."

Lucy had thought about something similar when she was young. Maybe the kids had been mean to her because of something she did... but when she grew up, she just realized that...

"But it wasn't really my fault. He was the one responsible for it. He was a degenerate monster." She said that last phrase with hatred filtering out, even when she tried to hide it. "And when I tried to tell my mother, she blamed me too. Some people... they just don't know how to handle a situation like that. So instead of helping me, she just started hitting me, because it was simple. It was easy. If I were the one to blame, then she wouldn't have to confront him. She wouldn't be the one that brought a rapist in the house. She wouldn't have to kick him out. She just had to blame me, and punish me for being a victim. That sort of thing can take your trust from people really quickly."

Lucy was just in shock. Sometimes she forgot that others had terrible problems too, not only her. She had never met her parents, but at least they didn't abuse her. She didn't say anything, and kept on listening.

"Then I ran away from that house. It wasn't a home for me anymore. It wasn't safe for me to stay. So, I preferred to wander the streets, starve, and be cold than to keep living there. One morning I remember I found myself at the beach. The water looked so beautiful, like calling my name. Calling me to get closer, and simply let go... let the water take me... let it take away the suffering... take away the pain... just one more brief moment of pain, and then sleep forever..."

Lucy could barely contain her tears back. She herself had thought of suicide a couple of times, but in her case because she felt guilty of what she was. Mayu on the other hand, had done nothing wrong. She was just an innocent victim.

"That is when I heard Wanta barking from the beach... she was so alone... she needed someone to take care of her... Someone that would keep her warm... Someone that could feed her... Someone that loved her. So I did. I took her with me. I had something to protect. And someone that would be with me, no matter what. Later on, I met mister Kouta, and Miss Yuka. They let me in their house. They let me stay warm, and filled my belly with food. And even you miss Lucy, you were here for me too."

Lucy, did not say anything. She just couldn't. If she opened her mouth, she felt that she would start crying uncontrollably. So instead, she reached out towards Mayu, and placed her hands around her, and kissed her on the forehead.

"You didn't deserve to be treated so badly." Lucy told her. "You deserve so much better."

Mayu felt the embrace, and embraced her back. "Thank you miss Lucy. I am happy that this is my home now. And I am happy that you are here with us too."

Lucy felt a warm sensation crossing her heart, this was the first time she actually felt as part of a home, and not just someone living there.

Then she also felt a warm sensation over her lap. Wanta had peed on her.

"No! Bad Wanta! Bad!" screamed Mayu as she got her away from Lucy, and Lucy went on to take a bath and change her clothes.

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On the evening of the second day, Lucy had thanked them for dinner and went to her room, where she started to think about finding a way to get out and away from them, after all, she was still a threat to them. Not only because of what she was, but because if people were still hunting her, then it would be a matter of time before they would find her there. That fact, alongside the guilt of looking at Kouta every day, was eating her from the inside. And despite how powerful her vectors may be, she felt hopelessly impotent about the entire situation. That was what made her cry. Not being able to take care of those she cared for.

Nana was passing near her room when she heard her sobbing. She had heard it before, but at first Nana thought that Lucy just needed some space. But two days crying were long enough. So she made her way into the room, carefully.

"Ahm..." she whispered, noticing how Lucy whipped her tears from her cheeks. "Miss Lucy, sorry to bother you, but... are you alright?"

"It's not of your business." Said Lucy.

Nana thought for a moment about leaving. But she had a strange gut feeling that she had to say something to Lucy, only to make her crying just a little bit more bearable. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"We were both trapped in the institute, right?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Well... maybe what they did to you there is why you cry?" Lucy looked at her. Nana had no clue of why she cried, so she said nothing and left Nana continue "Because I still have nightmares about it, and sometimes I also wake in the night crying. Sometimes, it's also because I miss my dad."

For a moment, Lucy realized that she was not the only one that got captured and tortured in the Institute. Others like her had been put through the same suffering. Others had also lost their lives in there and the ones they cared for.

"You went through a lot of pain too, didn't you?" said Lucy with a tinge of compassion for her. "But no. That's not exactly why I cry. It's just that... I have faced and caused so many evils in my life. And I'm afraid that maybe there will be more to come."

Nana wasn't entirely sure of what Lucy meant. She had been told by her father that Lucy was evil and had to be captured, but then she saw that maybe she wasn't so bad. But then does that mean that her father...

"Lucy" said Nana with a sombre tone in her voice "Was my father evil?"

Lucy was far less prepared to answer that question than what she would have imagined. At first she opened her mouth and wanted to say 'yes', but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Dr. Kurama was the one that imprisoned her, and one of the main people that hunted her; he had even sent Nana after her. But in the end, he had shown caring for Nana, and even for his true biological daughter, Mariko, who was a silpelit too. He even gave his life to save Nana, and spent his last moments comforting his daughter, even when he knew that she was going to blow up by the bombs implanted in her, when he could have just walked away from her and save himself.

"Your father... well..." Lucy wasn't sure what to say. "I think he had a lot of complex issues. He was never any good to me. But he wasn't completely evil either. He saved your life, even when he tried to ruin mine."

Nana lowered her head "I'm sorry." she said. "I tried to hunt you too. I was doing what my dad told me to do, because he told me you were evil, and I believed him. Now I don't know what to think about him anymore."

Lucy saw Nana, not as a diclonius, but for the first time, she saw her as just a girl that had lost her father. She remembered how she felt when she lost her puppy all those years ago, and her friend that got killed to protect her. Perhaps not the same, but a similar pain at least.

"Your father loved you enough as to take care of you." Lucy said "He protected you until his last day. It's alright if you feel conflicted about him, but it's also OK if you miss him."

Nana threw herself over Lucy, and placed her arms around her. "Thank you, I really needed to hear that. I hope you can forgive me. Someday." she said.

"I harmed you too, didn't I?" Lucy said as she noticed that her arms were cold, and not really made of human flesh. She wished they would have known each other in different circumstances back then. "I hope you can forgive me. For all I did to you. Someday." She hugged her tightly as tears were falling down her cheeks.

For a moment neither of them moved, but then Nana briefly kissed Lucy on the cheek "I forgive you." she told her.

A mixture of a crushing sensation and a warm feeling passed through Lucy's heart. Not sure why, she placed her lips on Nana's forehead, and then said "I have nothing to forgive you, because you did nothing to me out of malice. But if you need to hear it, I forgive you too."

Nana's face was lightened up with a smile. "Does this mean we are friends?"

"Well..." Lucy looked at her smiling face, and passed her left hand through her pink hair and noticed her horns on top, just like her own. "I would like to think of you more like my little sister."

"I guess that works too." finished Nana. She gave her a last hug and went out of the room.

Lucy's face felt strange, stiffed, or locked with a smile she thought she had lost long ago, never to return. But now it felt almost as if she could never lose it again, alongside two tears that ran down her cheeks, but there was not even a shred of sadness in those tears.

  
  


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Three days had passed since they got out from the hospital. True to his word, Kouta took the wheelchair back to the hospital the same day they got out, but since they had taken a patient out without the appropriate procedure, he had to be very discrete about the whole thing, and basically left the wheelchair just next to where he had heard the man complaining about not finding it.

As for Lucy, she was still quite weakened by all the wounds she had received, but she was recovering surprisingly fast. So much so, that her horns started to regrow little by little, and she could bring out her vectors again. Sadly, not everything was going so well. Whenever Kouta and Lucy were in the same room, he simply didn't talk to her, or tried to avoid her as much as he could, and Lucy usually cried quietly in her room every so often. Not everyone noticed, but Yuka did, and one night, she asked Kouta what was going on between them.

"I don't think you should know. It's complicated enough just as it is."

"What?" She said confused "Don't you trust me, Kouta?"

"It's not about trust, Yuka."

"Then what is it then?"

Kouta thought for a moment. She was still in their house... At least Yuka should be warned. "Swear to me that you won't change the way you treat Lucy."

"Kouta, why would I change that? What's happening?"

"Swear it, Yuka. Your most sacred promise."

She noticed the concerned look he had on his face. "Ok, Kouta. I swear it. I won't change the way I treat her."

Kouta took a deep breath. "Do you remember how I used to say that my sister fell ill, and my father died in an accident?"

Yuka was aware that they had been killed, but she never brought it up to Kouta, because she did not wanted to upset him. "Yes, Kouta. Why?"

"I convinced myself of that, because that was my way of protecting myself from the horror of the truth. The truth is... the truth is that they were killed in front of my eyes."

"Kouta." She whispered. "I'm so sorry." she hugged him with tenderness, and he gave back the same tenderness to her. But that still did not answer the question of what the problem with Lucy was. "So, did you remember that during these last days?"

"Yes. And it was because of Lucy."

"What? Why would that happen?"

"Years ago. The last time I came to visit you. I made a friend that I thought was a nice person at first. We spent a whole day together, and I asked that friend to come visit me at the train station before I left and went back home. I thought that friend would not show up. And then the explosion at the fair happened. Lots of people were killed. So we ran. All of us. You should remember that part, after all you were there."

"Yes. I remember." The tone of the conversation was turning more sombre with each passing second.

"Then when we went in the train and the train started to move. My sister Kanae said that she had seen the one that caused the explosion. And she described the friend I had made. I didn't believed her so we bickered about it. And from the other wagon, my friend appeared... she said something, but I don't fully remember what. And before I knew what was happening, my sister and my father were killed. It had been the friend I had made that took their lives."

Yuka covered her face in horror "Oh, my God."

"If I wouldn't have made friends with that person... maybe they would still be alive today. So maybe it's my fault after all. Maybe she wouldn't have gone to the train, maybe she wouldn't have gone to the fair and killed all those people."

Yuka still wasn't sure where this conversation was going. "She? It was a girl?"

"Yes. A girl that I thought was pretty. With a strange pink hair, and two horns on her head."

Yuka's mouth dropped open "L-Lucy?"

"Lucy." said Kouta back.

"She killed your family?"

"And a lot more people." said Kouta with a sombre tone.

"B-but she is living right here. Right next to us. We accepted her in our home."

"Yuka, you promised me. I have already talked with her. She tried to apologize."

"Apologize? Is that supposed to make up for THAT???!!!" Yuka was scandalized. And at the same time terrified.

A voice came from outside the room.

"Don't worry about it." said Lucy from the door that had been hearing the last bits of the conversation. "I will leave."

"L-Lucy." said Kouta with a strange mixture of guilt and sorrow. "Wait, Lucy..."

"What for?" she said back. "I am a murderer. I took your family. And as long as I live here, I will still be a threat." she clenched her teeth with anger to herself, and hatred for what she had done... what she was.

"You can't just leave." he said. "Where would you go?"

"Does it matter?"

"It matters to me." He told her.

Lucy smiled at him, with the saddest smile that anyone can imagine "Why are you like this? Why? Why do you want to help me? After all I have done."

"Because... because..." he didn't have an answer.

"Because you have a debt to him." Said Yuka, noticing how they both wanted to stay in the same family, but they both felt guilty for it. "You took his family away. Now you owe him. To all of us in fact. You can't leave without paying your debt."

Lucy flinched back. Just a second ago, she sounded as if she would have been the one that would have thrown her away to protect her family. "I owe you?"

"Yes." Yuka continued. "We let you into our home. You lied to us about who you were. And you have been living here without paying rent, or food. So you will stay. To atone for your crimes, and to make amends to the family that you broke." Said Yuka, sounding severe even when she was just about to cry. "That is the price you will pay."

"Miss Yuka..." said Lucy with a gaping mouth. Apparently being kindhearted was a family trait. A family trait in a family that she had broken. Lucy's legs gave up, she couldn't stay standing. A lot of emotions were coming to her heart. She started to cry.

Kouta went over to her, and hugged her. "I cannot give you back your family." she told him "Even when it's the only thing I want."

"And that is why you will stay." continued Yuka, coming closer to her too. "You already took away two members of his family. How cruel would you have to be, to take away yet another one?" And she hugged Lucy too.

"Are you sure you are OK with this?" asked Lucy to them.

Kouta touched her cheek and said "Yes."

"You are part of this family now." said Yuka. "Don't you ever forget that."

Lucy almost jumped over her and placed her head between the two.

"Go to sleep, Lucy." said Yuka. "And you better be here tomorrow for breakfast, otherwise we will have to go looking for you."

"I will be here." she answered "I promise."

Lucy got up, and went into her room.

Kouta and Yuka closed the door to their room.

He felt the greatest amount of gratefulness towards Yuka right now. So he hugged from behind, and placed his hands around her belly.

"Thank you, Yuka." he said "There are no words to describe, just how lucky I am to have you by my side."

"Kouta..." She took a deep breath, and said with a saddened look on her face "I just want you to know that I'm here for you. We all are. You don't have to carry with every problem just by yourself." She turned around and placed her arms around his neck, and whispered "You also have a debt to me." Yuka placed her arms around his waist, turned her head slightly and placed her lips on his cheek. He embraced her a bit harder, and from that moment on, he would always embrace her tightly. He then kissed her cheek... and then her neck... and then her lips... and then they just continued kissing, and other things too...


	3. Meeting Dr. Jack Bright.

On the evening of the fourth day since Lucy had arrived back home, at around six O'clock, there was a knock on their door. Since their return from the hospital, they had started a security protocol, every time somebody called at their door, Lucy and Nana were taken into their hideout by Yuka, where they would stay until she told them to come out, while Kouta was the one to open the door and check who it was. At most it had been either a mail delivery service, or a religious person trying to convert someone to their faith. But not this time. This time, there was the woman with squared glasses and a ponytail, called Arakawa, and beside her, a man of brown and curly hair, green eyes, pale skin, and using a white coat over a green shirt, and showing the widest smile he had seen on anyone, as if he would be perpetually amused by the world around him.

"Hello, mister Kouta" said the woman "Can we come in?".

Kouta thoght about what he would say. He didn't want them inside, but he had no idea wether if they would go away just like that, or if they had planned an attack on them if he refused.

"Why do you need to come in?" He asked trying to buy some extra time, just in case Lucy and Nana were not hidden yet.

"It's quite obvious, is it not?" She said frowning "We have a VERY delicate matter to talk about, and doing so in the middle of the street would simply not do."

"How many soldiers have come with you?" He asked this, trying to probe if this was a trap.

"We have not come with soldiers." She said exasperated. "This is not a trap, and we are not trying to harm you or anyone inside this house."

A laughter came from the man beside her and he said "We have not brought soldiers, but maybe we should have."

Both Arakawa and Kouta turned to give him an angry look, even if for entirely opposite reasons.

"What?" he continued with a calmed tone "You said he is the most likely to be hiding Patient Zero. And if that is the case then this could obviously be an ambush awaiting for us. Not that it matters to me, but it could be very dangerous to you, Arakawa."

"For once in your life can you stop being so cynical?" She said containing her fury. "We seriously need to talk with him if we are ever going to stop... whatever it is that Chief Kakuzawa is planning."

"I have tried being serious before. I just kind of forget to keep trying. Or to give a damn about it." his mocking smile widdened.

"Excuse me, who are you?" asked an exasperated Kouta to the man.

"Oh, where are my manners?" said the man. "Oh yeah, I left them back at my office. I shall introduce myself when we are inside the house young man, for security reasons of course."

"Kouta." Said Yuka from inside the house, she had just arrived, which meant that the girls were hidden. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Dr. Arakawa, and a man that I have not met before." he answered with a tone that showed little appreciation for the whole situation.

"Well?" she asked politely "Aren't you going to let them in?"

"I suppose so." Said Kouta reluctantly, as he made himself aside to let both visitors inside.

Kouta and Yuka took Arakawa and the man to the living room, and they all sitted around the small table.

"Alright." Said Kouta with a very distrustful tone. "What is this all about?"

Arakawa seemed to be very uncomfortable, and said "What if I told you that there is the possibility that humanity would dissapear? And that it all starts with the girl with horns. The one you brought to Dr. Kakuzawa."

"What are you talking about?" said Yuka concerned. "And who are you exactly?" she asked to the man beside her.

The man looked around the room, he seemed to be searching for something. "Are there any cameras or microphones here?" he asked.

"Not that I know." said Yuka.

"Very well, I suppose its necessary to start with an honest introduction if we are going to move forward." Everyone turned to see him. "My name is Dr. Jack Bright. I work for an institution with international connections dedicated to find, secure, contain and protect items and creatures with anomalous properties, for short it's called the SCP Foundation. Dr. Arakawa contacted us through an old friend of hers, how he knew about us is a classified matter which none of you need to know nor understand."

"Then what are you two doing here?" asked Kouta.

"To be honest, this all has to do with Lucy, the girl with horns." said Arakawa.

"What about her?" he asked exasperated and frowning

"I don't know how to say this." she continued "She is part of a different branch of humanity. A sort of a different evolutionary step. She's not exactly human."

Lucy, who was listening between the wooden planks above them, looking down through the top floor, clenched her teeth enraged.

"She's part of a kind of mutation that we call 'Diclonius', a type of humans that can generate invisible hands with superhuman strength and resistance. Mostly they have a limited range, and as far as we know, she has an approximate range of two meters. They can be very destructive, and in most cases they are very violent against humans, and capable of killing hundreds of unarmed civilians. When they are old enough, their vectors can even stop small and medium caliber bullets."

"I'm afraid you are wrong Arakawa." Said Bright calmly.

"What?" she said confused.

"The diclonius are not an evolutionary step. They are as human as everyone else." finished Bright.

"What on earth are you saying? What about their vectors? What about their killing instinct?"

"They are real, indeed. But diclonius are not a different species than humans. The DNA tests that have been done have shown that they have 99.9% common DNA to any other human, the same as anybody else. And for what Arakawa has told me, they are the result of a viral infection. That is not evolution, that is sickness."

Lucy's rage got worse, and could barely hold herself back from reaching down and decapitating both invaders immediately. First, she wasn't human, now she was sick. What would they say next? That they could 'cure' her?

"Yes, perhaps you are right." said Arakawa "But still, they have the instinct to infect other humans and kill those around them."

"Ever heard of rabies? That thing gets you very irritated and violent too. The reason why there are less rabies-induced-murders seems to be due to the fact that this infection doesn't give you pseudo-telekinetical-super-strenght-arms that can cut someone into pieces in a second." Kouta shivered at that description. "Also, there are parasites that can exert a type of mind-control on the infected. Hairworms infecting a cricket will make the cricket follow light sources, often times water bodies that reflect the sun or moonlight, makes the cricket jump into the water and kill itself in order to complete the parasite's life cycle. I'm beginning to suspect that the virus infecting the diclonius is responsible for their violent behavior, at least partially."

Lucy's eyes widened. When she was younger, at that carnival, she had heard the 'voice of the virus'. It was that 'voice' that pushed her to the killings. It had told her 'Destroy this world and build your own' and she had listened. Her greatest mistake, that lead to the destruction of many lives, including the lives of Kouta's sister and father. She should not have listened to it. Was it really that she was just sick? 'No' she heard inside her head 'The humans attacked you, and mistreated you' she heard again 'they do not deserve to live'. She heard it clearly. That same voice... it was still there... She hadn't noticed it before because... because she had let it control her... the voice had controlled her through her pain, fear, and hatred... it had used her through her rage. The revelation flooded her mind... if that was right, then her whole life she had been nothing but a passenger in a vehicle controlled by another. But that didn't make any sense. She had made her choices, and she was guilty of every action she had taken. There was no way around that fact, even when she would have been influenced by something else, she was still making the killings, because she had liked it, because she hated humans herself. Except for Kouta, and except for Mayu, and even except for Yuka.

"So you think Lucy should be imprisoned or killed for this?" said Yuka angrily.

"Treated" said Arakawa.

"Treated?" said Yuka "from the virus?"

"Yes" continued Arakawa "Dr. Kakuzawa and I had been working together to develop a cure. But after Dr. Kakuzawa's death, his father, Chief Kakuzawa, forced me to work for him. He's the leader of the organization I work at, and he has no interest in curing the disease." She said with the most concerned look on her face. "I think he wants to infect as many people with the virus as possible, and start a sort of apocalypse where diclonius replace human beings. But even now, I'm trying to develop a cure for it without them knowing." Everyone looked at her with a scared look, except for Bright that had gotten serious suddenly.

"That is where the SCP-Foundation must intervene." He said. "Diclonius would not be the first threat to humanity that we face. And the usual containment procedures for this type of threat would include to detain every diclonius that could be subjugated, the termination of those who could not, termination of any human subject that even had the slightest possibility of carrying the infection, amnesiacs distributed to the entire population that knew about the diclonius, and the implementation of coverup stories for the deaths and destruction that the diclonius would have caused. However, due to the fact that there is already a facility that is working on this, namely, the Diclonius Research Institute, where Arakawa is working at, the Foundation has decided to take a different course of action, at least for now. I'm the main representative of the SCP-foundation in this operation, and my objective is to cooperate in finding the cure for this virus if possible, or find a way to contain the infection, one way or another. I have a time limit of one month to report back positive results, and I must report back every twenty four hours to the foundation, if I don't, they will assume I have been killed, and will immediately instantiate the aforementioned containment procedures to Secure this anomaly, Contain its threat, and Protect humanity."

"Threat to humanity?!" Said Kouta even more outraged. "Some diclonius might be aggressive, but there are billions of human beings, they are hardly a threat to humanity! And everything else you said sounds more as an attempt to threaten us than anything else."

Arakawa and Bright exchanged looks.

"The diclonius still pose a threat to humanity," said Arakawa "not just for the killings they cause, but for how the virus spreads itself." Everyone payed attention to her "A diclonius can infect a human with their vectors, and although the infected human will not present any symptoms, their offspring will be 100% of the time a 'silpelit', a sterile female diclonius. Silpelits cannot have children themselves, but they can spread the disease through their own vectors, accelerating the number of silpelits born this way."

"And if that is the case" said Bright "We could be facing serious trouble." Now they were looking at him. "If we are correct, every diclonius could potentially infest up to one thousand humans per year, assuming a 10% ratio of population growth among the infected, in three years we could have one hundred silpelits, that would turn one hundred thousand new infested humans, and in three years more, we would have ten thousand silpelits, three more years, a million silpelits, and in three more years, a hundred million silpelits. Passed that point, we would be facing a potential SK-class dominance-shift scenario, where the diclonii would probably replace human beings as the dominant species on Earth. However, humans are very cruel and violent when threatened, so they would hunt down the diclonii a long time before that. But then we could have a DK-class world-wide-conflict scenario, with a race-driven world-war between humans and what would constitute mostly silpelits. But that is not the worst outcome. The worst outcome would be that the silpelits win, with or without a war. Because, as it was said earlier, silpelits are sterile, and cannot have offspring of their own. As a result, even if there are millions of silpelits, in one hundred years, all of them would die out, having left a completely wiped out human race. According to the information that Arakawa has provided me, the only diclonius that has the possibility of having normal offspring is Lucy, and her direct lineage would be the only one left after the war. But in the best case scenario, she could have one or two viable children during her lifetime, and them could have two each, and even in one hundred years, the total number of viable fertile diclonii would not exceed a couple of hundreds in the best of cases. All societies would collapse then, and the survivors would be forced to be set back almost to the iron age, or even before that. There would hardly be any electricity, or even agriculture. It would be a potential extinction even for the surviving fertile diclonii."

Then there was silence. Lucy would have never thought about that. She hated humans, but she never even realized that her entire life depended on them. She had stolen the food from her first human killings, but without humans, without the society they had built, there would not have been any food at all. All her clothes were made by humans, the house she was living in had been built, bought and maintained by humans. She could not have done that herself, she didn't have the knowledge, or the time to do all of that. And so her hatred was confronted by her reasoning. And a sudden realization arose in her mind. Humans must live so she can live, and that any child she could have, if she ever had them, could live. 'NO!' said the voice in her head. 'HUMANS MUST DIE!' Lucy clawed onto her head, trying to quiet it down.

Nana noticed her distress and placed her hands over Lucy's head, and whispered just above her breath. "Take it easy. I know what it would mean too." Lucy looked at her "It would mean that everyone in this family would die." her eyes were saddened "And I won't let that happen. WE won't let that happen."

"Nana..." whispered Lucy, with a surprised and faint smile slightly drawn on her face. But beneath them, the conversation kept ongoing.

"That can't be true." Said Yuka holding her head with her hands while her elbows were over the table. "You must be lying. It must be a LIE!" Everyone else was quiet. "Kouta. Please, say something."

"She... she told me..." whispered Kouta just over his breath and only so Yuka could listen to it. For a brief instant he looked at the ceiling, just where he knew Lucy and Nana were hiding.

"Arakawa" whispered Bright to her. "Cookies might be in the oven. I'll see if they are ready."

"Understood." she whispered back, and then told the group. "Dr. Bright will continue with the rest of the interview. I have to go back to work. At this time my absence at the institute might have been noticed already. And there is just so much I can do to keep suspicions to a minimum." She gave a polite reverence to everyone, and left the room, and then the house. She walked calmedly for about a minute, and then she started running as fast as she could...

"So..." said Dr. Bright with a strong tone of voice while he put on a brown coat with six golden buttons over his body but left the front open. He looked at Kouta and said. "Are you going to come down here and join us..." Bright raised his head and looked at the spot were Kouta had looked at before "...Diclonius Lucy?"


	4. The Glorious Madness of Jack Bright

Kouta raised from his chair and clenched his fists. A cold rage was piercing through his eyes towards the man that was invading their home. "You have to leave. Immediately." he said.

"Oh, I don't think so." shot back Bright. "You are hiding an instance of a very dangerous SCP, and you have probably being exposed to it." From under the table he produced a gun and aimed it at him. "Diclonius!" he screamed "If you care for any of the humans in this house you will come down here, NOW!"

A loud sound. Dust and wooden pieces flying all around them. The wooden pieces of the ceiling were broken and through them Lucy's vectors had manifested and thrown themselves towards Bright's gun and his neck. But something unexpected happened next... from under the foldings of the coat that Bright was wearing, countless arms of different colors, materials, and even creatures appeared and held onto Lucy's vectors themselves. Each vector was now facing against montrous tentacles, robotic arms, human arms and several unidentified limbs from unknowable creatures.

"Surprised?!" yelled Bright with a maniatic expression on his face "I asked you politely to COME DOWN HERE!" An elephant trunk appeared from the coat and latched onto Lucy's neck, pulling her down from the ceiling onto the floor. Nana tried to hold onto her to prevent her fall, but only got herself pulled down too. Both crashed with enough strenght as to make the whole floor vibrate. Yet, they had been able to deflect some of the fall by using their own vectors to hold themselves back.

Bright saw then that there was not one, but two pink haired women with horns before him. Then he looked back at the humans. "So this is your little secret then... you have been hiding two SCPs in this house. And for what I understand they should be agressive to the point where no human that encounters them survive. And yet, all of you are still alive. Are you also SCPs? Or are you carriers of the virus? I see little to no other alternatives beside that."

"What do you care?" said the voice from the tallest pink haired woman. "You came here to try to imprison us, we don't own any explanation to you." Her vectors once again manifested and broked several of the arms that came from Bright's coat.

"Wait... No!" said Bright.

"Too la(te)..." started saying Lucy ready to cut him into pieces, but she was quieted down with a full fist to the face. An inmeasurable amount of enraged arms appeared from the coat and were ejected towards Lucy. Nana's vectors got in the way of the hits, and even with all their strenght they got almost bent down with all the montrous arms hitting it.

"What the hell is this?!!!" yelled Nana trying to cover herself and Lucy with the vectors. Lucy tried to take cover from the hits with her own but even behind their vectors they could still feel the unstoppable bombardment from Bright's coat... until one of the tentacles found a weak spot that was not covered... the tentacle grabbed onto Lucy's left arm and pulled her towards the other limbs, within a matter of instants she was covered in bruises, and her body was then slammed against the wall. She wasn't moving. Nana was still under the hellish bombardment of fists and couldn't move an inch.

Everyone was looking in horror as the coat manifested what appeared to be two gigantic crab legs that were moving towards Lucy's body ready to pierce through her chest. And then... all the arms were retreated... the sudden silence that fell over the room was just as disturbing as the horrible noises that the chaos before it had caused.

"Bloody hell!!!" Yelled Bright panting heavily. "Do you understand how close you were of getting yourselves killed?!!!" he yelled at everyone as he took off the coat from his body. Nana slowly moved her head to see where he was, and for a moment she thought she could... "Don't even think about it silly girl. You saw what I did to the other diclonius when her attack was misplaced. Don't think I don't have a couple extra tricks within my sleeves." She backed down and turned off her own vectors.

"What on Earth was that?" asked the terrified voice of little Mayu.

"SCP-262: The coat of many arms." answered Bright to the girl. "You just saw some of its effects. At the Foundation we have reasons to believe that it has some extent of autonomous consciousness, and self preservation instincts. That's why it's a terrible idea to attack it or its arms."

"Get out of here." Said an enraged Kouta even if he was not screaming. "You came here to threaten and attack us. Just get out."

"I'm here to help you."

"Help?! You call this HELP?!!!" screamed Yuka, and immediately ran towards where Lucy was lying, holding her head over her lap. "Please wake up..." she whispered "Please don't die on us. We just got you back."

Mayu on the other hand walked slowly towards Nana, still scared of getting attacked by Bright, and then placed her hands on her head. "It's okay." she told her. "We are together." Nana sat down and hugged Mayu.

"I was so scared." said Nana embracing her tightly.

Kouta walked and placed himself between the girls and Bright. "You are not welcome here. This is my family, and I will protect it no matter the cost."

Bright looked at the scene... and suddenly bursted out laughing. "Of course! They ARE your family." A malevolent smile was drawn on his face and said "But I'm afraid I can't leave. I'm an agent of The SCP Foundation, and I have a mission to protect humanity. We Secure. We Contain. We Protect. By any means necessary. No matter the cost. If that means I have to destroy this family, believe me I WILL."

"You can try." said Lucy's voice from the corner where she had just woken up. "But I will kill you for it, even if that means that I must die for them." Not all humans had to survive for her to live in a functioning society. She could always kill a couple hundreds, or even thousands if it needs be. After all, there are millions of humans. Just like little ants, kill hundreds of them and the colony will still prevail.

"And so will I." Said Nana with a cold determination as she stood up, and placed Mayu behind her back. "This people. We are all part of this. We are together to protect each other. If we have to kill you, we will."

Bright laughed at Lucy and Nana's threats.

"You might think that you have some kind of negotiation power with me or The Foundation." said Bright "However, let me assure you that despite how 'dangerous' you might think you are, or how many casualties you caused on the pathetic excuse of a military that you have been confronting lately, you pose no real threat to us if we truly want to go all out on you and your kind. Even in the worst of all scenarios, you have already lost this war, by the simple fact that The Foundation has already got to know of your existence, far before you could affect a significant number of humans. The only reason why you are not in a cold cell right now is because there has been a lot of pressure by the local government to make this operation as quiet as possible, and my personal decision to try to persuade you to cooperate. Also because Lucy carries the original type of virus that could be used to develop a general cure for all diclonii. But, if you refuse to cooperate, or if you still hold on to some irrational grudge against humanity and try to attack us, then we will be forced to treat you and all diclonii as hostile entities, and as such, you would be forcefully contained or terminated if necessary. Not to mention to your family, after all, they have all been exposed to your presence and are therefore potentially infected by the diclonius virus. They would also have to be contained or terminated."

Lucy prepared to attack again by getting up, but Bright straightened his back to make himself taller, while taking out a small object from within his pocket. It was a small control with a red button on top inside a glass cage. In the blink of an eye, he opened the glass cage and pressed the button, holding it down with his thumb. He opened his jacket to reveal a line of red tubes attached to his chest.

"This is a dead-man's switch. It is connected to the dynamite on my chest. If something happens to me that prevents me from pressing this button, then the dinamyte goes KABOOM, and there is enough of it to make this whole house be blown to smitherins. So please, do dare to attack me, and be the one responsible for the deads of all the members of this family." Fear and rage were clear on Lucy's face, everyone else just seemed more shocked or feaful than enraged. They couldn't attack. They couldn't defend. They were defenseless against this mad man. "You have no idea of WHAT I am." continued Bright "Even if right now this vessel that i'm inhabiting gets killed, I would still be able to return in another body, so the dead of this body means nothing to me. But all of you have just one body to inhabit. If a single one of you tries to run away or take the control from me, I release the button and everything in this house goes to hell. So given the circumstances, lets all just sit down and talk like civiliced people."

What other choice was there? He had them trapped. Was he even capable of actually surviving the explosion? They had seen hundreds of limbs coming out of his coat before, and all of them thought that would have been impossible, so at the very least, this man was not normal. Even if he would not survive the explosion, just the fact that he actually believed to be immortal was the core reason that he was actually willing to blow himself up, even if he would just stay dead afterwards. But still he was the one in charge. He and Arakawa had planned this carefully.

The first one to move was Kouta. With a deep breath he sitted down on the spot where he was standing. "You heard him." he said "Sit down." He ordered to the rest. They followed his example, even if reluctantly.

"What would we be talking about, then?" asked Kouta holding back his anger and frustration.

"Two points to be precise." Answered Bright with a mixture of amusement and cold calculation. "The first, we are going to need blood samples from both diclonii in this room."

"What?!" asked Yuka scandalized. "Why would you...?"

"Please remain quiet while I'm giving the conditions for your surrendering." shot back Bright with a maniatical smile across his face "The reason is obvious enough, If we are going to develop a cure, having a sample of the original strain of the virus would be the best option to obtain a cure, and as I understand, all the diclonii alive today are connected to this young lady here" he pointed towards Lucy with the only free hand he had at the moment. "And that would mean that if we find a cure based on her particular strain of virus, we would have a potential cure for all strains of the virus. Therefore we need a sample from her blood and maybe some other tissues if necessary, nothing too invasive, after all we do not want to harm her... yet." Bright paused for a moment passing his gaze over every person in the room, reading their reactions, and after seeing that they were not showing agression towards him, he continued. "As for the sample of blood from the other diclonius," he stared at Nana "we have to find out if the cure we develop is truly effective against as many infected samples as we can get our hands into. Arakawa might be able to obtain several samples from the diclonii within the facility where she works at, but that would still leave out the samples of the diclonius that are not within the facility, this includes the other diclonius in your custody, that I will assume is a silpelit."

"My name is Nana. At least call me as such." Nana did not seem to be amused by the whole situation.

"My apologies, miss Nana." said Bright looking at her with curiosity. "Coming to think of it, we may need samples of all of the others in this house, after all, you truly have been exposed to two infectious subjects, and could be carrying the virus yourselves."

"I never infected them, I would never do that to them." said Lucy on the brink of tears with her contained fury.

"Neither have I." said Nana looking intensely at Bright.

"And I'm sure that you want me to take your word for it." Said Bright in all seriousness. "I would not want to put into question the honor of two beings that are compulsively driven by an infectious virus that tries to spread itself by any means possible and that is inclined towards the destruction of human beings as its final goal. However, even if neither of you willingly infected them, you could have accidentaly infected them, and The Foundation does not gamble with such posibilities when the fate of humanity is at stake, no matter how far fetched the possibility, and in this particular case, the possibility is NOT far fetched."

"Is that it then?" asked Kouta as calmed as he could, but his voice still reflected his upsetted state. "Just a sample of blood from all of us, and you will leave us alone."

"Not quite." said Bright. "That was just the first point. The second point is: We will need Lucy and Nana for a possible communication attempt with the rest of the diclonii." Everyone stared at him in disbelieve. So far his entire behaviour had been strong-arming everyone into submission. He didn't seem like the type of person that would care about communicating the diclonii. "Personally I don't really care how the diclonii are handled as long as they do not pose a threat to humanity." And there it was... "But Arakawa has insisted on this course of action if she is going to cooperate with The Foundation. We might be ruthless against threats, but we are practical, and if there is a way to destroy the threat with minimum casualties on both humans and anomalies, then we are all for it. Besides, Arakawa is an internal agent and we are going to need any and all information that she can provide, not to mention that she is the main person looking for a cure to the virus, and if the price of her cooperation is to try to help the diclonii, then so be it. At least for now."

There was a long and quite awkward silence now. that was interrupted by Bright himself.

"Well? What do you have to say? Will you cooperate with us?"

Lucy and Nana were even more enraged now than before. But still they had to keep their vectors off. They felt trapped. Their family was under threat, and Lucy's vengeful hatred of humans got wider that instant.

"You want us to cooperate with you?" said Lucy coldly "You come here to the only place we call home, you threaten everyone we care for, you openly declare that you and your Foundation are at 'war' with us diclonii, and then you asks us to help you?"

"Good." said Bright with a mocking smile on his face "You got the gist of it all."

"You DARE?!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Lucy!" said Kouta's voice firmly. "Please... this is not the time to lose control." Lucy could barely hold back from attacking the man that had threatened them all. "Will you leave us alone if we help you? Will all of us still be alive if we cooperate with The Foundation?"

"We have no interest in harming you purposefully, unless you represent a threat to us or humanity. Cooperate with us, and the Institute for Diclonius Reaseach will not be able to reach any of you, because as I understand, they are still hunting you." he said looking at Lucy and then Nana. "Cooperate with us and you will be protected. Help us, and we will see that this family stays safe. Defy us, or go against us, and we will show no mercy. And then you will have not one, but two institutes hunting you. One of which already knows your address." He said that last sentence with a large smile from ear to ear.

"So we really have no choice in this." Said Yuka terrified. "We either cooperate or you force us, isn't it?"

"Correct." said Bright seriously.

"So now what?" said the small voice of Mayu. "We have no say in this, not really, so just say it already. What's next?"

"I see that you are very smart for your age, young lady." Said Bright to her. "Maybe smarter than the rest of the people here." he said mockingly. "Now, I will call someone that will come here with the necessary equipment to take the blood and tissue samples from all of you. You will not present resistance to it, and afterwards we will all end being friends." the sarcasm placed in the last sentence was obnoxious.

Nobody said anything while Bright took out a cellphone and used it to make a call. They saw him await for something and heard some whispers coming from the phone but they didn't managed to hear it clearly.

"Dr. Jack Bright, researcher level 4, iteration 18, on field duty at location temporarily designated as site 47. Temporary code 2-1-3-S-E-R-D-C-E. Field report 01 - Starting operation succesful, subjects are willing to cooperate with Foundation staff. First phase of operation must start immediately. We require five medical kits for blood and tissue sample taking for highly dangerous and contagious bio-hazards for two fully infected subjects and three suspicious of being carriers. Infected subjects are willing to cooperate with The Foundation, but must still be regarded as potentially dangerous. I'm sending the specific coordinates under an encripted communication channel. All residents inside the location specified must be regarded as VIP subjects, as they could be the key for further research and containment on the present anomaly. It is my recommendation that a Mobile Task Force be deployed with undercover status to protect said residents, as there is the possibility that another institute might be on the look out for the infected subjects with the purpose of weaponizing the infection. The task force must not have contact with any of the members of the residency, and if any contact with them is made, said subject must be put into quarantine for an indefinite amount of time, until we can figure out if such person has been infected, and if necessary, until a cure is developed. That would be all. Doctor Jack Bright, out." and he finished the call. It was obvious that he had done the phone call in front of them on purpose, to prove that the agreement on protection was standing.

"There, it's done" said Bright to the others in the house. "As long as you hold your end of the bargain, this entire household will remain under Foundation protection."

"So generous of you." said sarcastically Yuka. "We are not stupid, this so called protection is not to guard us, but to imprison us in here."

"That may be partially true." responded Bright to her. "But you know very well that these two are being hunted down." he signaled Lucy and Nana "And nobody here is truly prepared to confront a battle situation. You would most likely get killed or used as hostages to be traded for the surrendering of these diclonii."

Lucy remembered for a moment how she had been dragged into containment at the Institute for the first time. She was running away with a girl that she had befriended, but when they were found by the militia of the Institute, they tried to shoot her, but her friend placed herself in harms way to protect Lucy. She had given up just to give the chance to her friend to live after being wounded by a bullet that was meant for her. In the end, she was told by Kurama that she had died anyway. Bright was right, they would be hostages if the Institute found out where she was. She couldn't let that happen again.

"If I come with you," said Lucy, this time with some coldness "will you leave the rest of these people alone."

"Are you negotiating?" asked Bright.

"I just want them to be alright." she glimpsed at Kouta for a second and then turned back to Bright.

"Not entirely." he said "I would need that both of you diclonii come with me, at least then the Institute would not have a way to use them as hostages, as they do not know that they are connected to either one of you. However, they would still be treated as possibly infected and the Task Force I asked will still be placed here."

"So instead of the Institute using them as hostages, it would be your Foundation."

Bright grinned with maliciousness "You saw that right through, didn't you?"

"No deal, then." She said coldly. "If anyone is going to try to use them as hostages, at least I will remain around them to try to protect them."

"Me too." said Nana.

"Lucy. Nana." said Yuka with tenderness "Are you really that caring for us?"

"Before I came here," said Lucy "I never had anywhere to call home. I never had a family. But you all accepted me as one of your own." Her eyes started tearing up. "And I won't let anyone harm my family."

"My dad was the only one that I ever loved." said Nana "He managed to release me from the Institute before he died, but I didn't know how to live in this world. Mayu helped me, and this house became my new home. I own this family my life. And you can bet that I will give my life to protect it."

"That is fair." said Bright. "So be it, then. Now we just have to wait for the Foundation staff to arrive, take your samples, and this will mark the begining of an awful friendship." a brief silence "Are you not going to offer me some tea or coffee?" asked Bright. "After all, it is customary to treat guests with at least a minimal level of friendliness." Coming from the guy holding a switch attached to a bomb that could kill all of them was hypocritical to talk about friendliness to say the least.

"You are not a guest here, you are an invader." Said Kouta.

"Still, we have some time to kill, and since I don't want my arm to get tired from holding this button, it would be of great help if I stay hydrated."

"You are just enjoying this, aren't you?" said Kouta with disdainful disgust towards him.

"Indeed. And quite a lot."

"Fine." said Yuka reluctantly "I'll do it." And she marched towards the kitchen with angry resignation.

Yuka boiled some water and served enough cups for everyone, alongside enough coffee and tea bags to pick. Bright prepared himself a cup of coffee with the free hand he had. The rest picked the tea as a silent way to defy him. He of course didn't give a damn. After the most awkward-silent-tea-party that has ever existed, there was a knock on the door, that Kouta went to attend, under order of Bright he would have to let any Foundation personnel enter.

Several masked people with anti-biohazard suits entered with a huge suitcase. One of the people started talking with a female, unfeeling, monotonous voice.

"We are The SCP Foundation biohazard analysis personnel. According to Dr. Bright's report, you are willing to cooperate with the Foundation, is that correct?"

"Yes." said Lucy reluctantly.

"I suppose so." said Nana

"We don't really have a choice." said Kouta.

"Just get this over with." said Yuka.

"I just want to go to sleep. I'm tired." said Mayu.

"Very well. We will proceed to take some samples from you, please do not present any resistance to the procedure."

They opened the suitcase and stated taking out rubbertubes, needles, glass tubes and some other apparatuses that they used to gather blood samples, and other samples from each member of the group. Kouta offered himself first to ensure that the procedure was not too harmful. And to tell the truth it was not very different than a simple general medical test from a hospital. The most remarkable difference was only obvious when it was Lucy and Nana's turn. They took a small sample from their horns scratching them with sandpaper, and put the samples in small glass tubes. Once everything was taken, they collected the samples inside the suitcase, and the biohazard analysis personnel left their home alongside Dr. Bright, but not before he said to them "I'll be seeing you soon. In the meantime, do not reproduce, it would be a sad thing to have to take a newlyborn SCP into custody. Supplies will be adequatedly provided to ensure that all of you can have all necessary resourses for your survival. The Task Force I asked for your protection is already in place. If any of you attempts to leave this place, they have been instructed to bring you back by any means necessary. Have a good day." And he went inside the Foundation car in which the rest of the personnel had come in. So it ended the first round. Astonishing victory with no casualties and several samples of the virus. Satisfaction was the word that came to Bright's mind, but he knew that this may not last, still he would enjoy it for now.

  
  



	5. The price of freedom.

As the Foundation personnel left, Kouta walked outside the house just at the frontal garden. Immediately several red spots appeared over his chest. Sniper lasers where coming from somewhere he could not see. He closed his eyes in resignation and went back inside to the room where the others were.

Kouta sitted down on the floor. His head was aching. He placed his face inside his right hand, feeling defeated.

"This is a nightmare. They left snipers around us." he said. "I don't think I can keep up with this any longer."

"We have to, Kouta." Said Yuka, trying to be as calmed as possible, even when she was also on the verge of a panic attack. Their home was not their home anymore. An invading force was looming over them, and that madman had them pinned and threatened. He claimed his intentions to be noble, but his actions were ruthless. "We have to..." she started crying.

"I was not capable of defending us." He continued. "If I can't protect this family, then what am I here for?"

"Don't say that, Mr. Kouta." said Nana, getting closer to them. "We are all alive and we are together. I suppose it could have been worse."

"How?" he asked "How could it had been worse? We are trapped here."

"They could have taken me. They could have taken us." Said Lucy with a weary expression looking at Nana and then back to Kouta. "We are still here."

"But for how long?" he asked still with a longing sensation of impotence. "Their guards are still vigilating this house. And as long as you are here, they will keep all of us hostages."

"Maybe we could find a way to escape? Like we did at the hospital." said Mayu from a corner.

Kouta gave her a half smile "I don't think it would be that easy this time. We were surrounded by people that weren't looking for us. But now they are actively vigilating us."

There was a prolonged silence, they were all trying to understand the situation they were in.

"A tunnel?" said Yuka. "No... it could take months to make one. And he said that he had one month to report back with results. So if he doesn't, we can assume that we would be all taken prisoners by them."

"Getting out through a window at the back." Said Mayu "No... they probably have more snipers around the house."

"Maybe Lucy and I could attack them." said Nana.

"No." Answered Lucy. "If we attack, they could send some forces inside and threaten them to capture us. Believe me, I have been in a similar situation, and it's not something you want to live through."

"We could divert them." said Kouta. "Generate a distraction to keep them busy while we escape. But how?"

There was a long pause.

"It's really dark out there." said Mayu looking through a window "It's very late, isn't it?"

An idea clicked inside Kouta then.

"The guards saw me." said Kouta. "And aimed clearly at me."

"Yes Kouta, we will find a way out." Said Yuka hugging him from the back, thinking he was just stressing out for it.

"I think I have thought of one." he said, surprising Yuka and the rest.

"What? What is it?" asked Yuka curious.

"No... It's too dangerous, and we wouldn't have anywhere to go..."

"Kouta, just tell us what is it?"

"They saw me, in the middle of the pitch black night. They must have light augmenting googles. Those let you see clearly at night, but if you see directly at a light source, it would blind you."

"So if we could create a light source big enough..." said Yuka.

"They could not see us while we run away." Finished Mayu.

"That's brilliant!" said Yuka. "But how are we going to generate that much light?"

"That's why I said it was stupid." said Kouta "The only thing we have available to create that much light would be a fire."

"You mean burning the house?!" Said Yuka scandalized.

"We can't do it. We would lose everything." said Kouta. We just can't afford it.

"If we are imprisoned. We would lose everything anyway." said Mayu with a saddened look on her face.

A long pause ensued.

"Come on!!!" complained Kouta in desperation. "Aren't there any other ideas? No matter how small."

Not a word was uttered.

"Could we minimize the damage somehow?" asked Yuka.

"You are kidding. You can't be actually considering this..." said Kouta in disbelieve.

"What other choice do we have?" She continued. "We have to leave this place, and hide. That madman could return any minute and take us away, one by one. And if that happens then everything that stays here would just be lost to us anyway. At least if we run away, their loss would have a purpose instead of just being a useless tragedy."

"She is right." said Mayu. "If we stay here then we are just going to be separated eventually. I would be alone again." She started tearing up. "I don't want to be alone." she started crying, and Nana tried to comfort her while hugging her.

"I don't like this." Said Kouta.

"Every minute we lose is a minute we are risking ourselves." said Yuka. "We have to get out, and we have to do it as soon as possible."

Kouta thought as hard as he could. The day had been long and tiresome, he wasn't at the most apt moment to think straight, but that didn't matter. He had to protect his family, no matter the cost.

"You said that maybe we could minimize the damage, right Yuka?" he asked her almost begging for an idea.

"Well..." she started saying, unsure of what she actually wanted to do or say at all. "We just need a fire big enough as to blind the guards. We could just torch the ceiling. Maybe the top floor if necessary, and we could bring everything from the top floors downstairs."

"Nana and I could do that." said Lucy. "With our vectors it would be easy to carrie big weights."

"You can count on me." said Nana.

"We could flood the rest of the floors." said Mayu's voice in a somewhat worried tone. "If we clog the sinks and bathtubs and keep the water running, then the water might protect most of the house from being burnt."

Everyone was quiet, almost waiting for Kouta to give a green light to the plan.

"I still don't like it." he said.

"We don't have to like it." said Yuka. "It just has to work."

"We don't have any other choices, do we?" He said. He took a deep breath, and then he took another. "Lets do it. But before that, we will need to take as much food, and water as we can, and some clothes, as this might be a very long journey."

"I'll get enough bags for us to carry everything we need." said Yuka and she rushed to get them.

"I'll help Nana and Lucy to get some clothes, and I will get some for myself." Said Mayu, who took the pink haired women and went as quickly as possible.

Kouta stared at the empty room now. Filled with wooden chippings and the broken ceiling. How had this happen? Just a couple of days ago, they were having nice dinners in this same room with everyone else, and now they were going to burn their own house.

Suddenly the images of Jack Bright's sly smile flooded his mind, his laughter as he wrecked havoc in his home, and how he had turned their refuge into their prison. 'To hell with it.' he thought 'And to hell with him.' he clenched his fists so hardly that his nails started to break through his skin and a couple of blood drops dripped from them onto the floor. 'Even if this doesn't work, at least this will be a defiance he won't ignore.' And he went forward to find something flammable to start the fire that would become the beacon of their freedom.


	6. Come on baby, light my fire.

It had taken them over an hour just to select what could be classified as the 'essentials' to carry in their backpacks. Yuka had enough bags and luggage to carry a lot more than what they had decided to take. They would have to run, so too much weight was overuled. They would also have to split in groups to have a better chance to get away, and they would meet later in the train station. At least that was the plan. Yuka would go with Mayu, Kouta with Nana, and even when he had told her to come with him, Lucy said she would go alone, because "They are after me in particular. They will try to hunt me harder, and if I get caught, it will be just me." The rest had agreed on the condition that she would give her best effort if it needed to be to stay safe.

During the next hour Lucy and Nana had taken most of the furniture from upstairs down to the first floor, and they were all basically clumped together in the different rooms. Some of the remaining things were taken as close to the second floor's bathroom as possible. The water in every faucet was running and had began to spill all over the floor of every level.

Kouta had taken alcohol from the house's cabinet and soaked several pieces of old clothing on it, and he scattered some more on the ceiling as he could. Yuka was holding another piece of clothing dripping alcohol.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her.

"Of course I'm not sure!" she said exasperated "We don't even know if this will work, we might even get caught in the fire." She looked around her. So many memories were about to be turned into ashes. "But we don't have a choice. So we have to do it anyway." She paused for a second. "But before that..." she leaned over him and kissed him on the cheek. "In case we don't make it, I want you to know that..." she swallowed some saliva "I need you to know that..." She took what was left of her courage and said just over her breath "I love you." Her eyes were watering.

Kouta felt his heart heavy and warmth. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and looked in her eyes, and before she could say anything else, he placed his lips over hers. One last memory about to burn.

"We will make it through." He told her. "We MUST make it through." He paused for a second before telling her from the bottom of his heart. "I love you too." A bittersweet smile was drawn over her face. "Are you ready?"

"Now I am." she said

"Very well." He said as he wrapped the cloth around a wooden log in the ceiling, and Yuka followed suit. Some seconds of hesitation, but in the end she was the first to light a match. Soon he did the same, and they set both clothes in a yellow and orange bright light, which started to expand quickly around the ceiling's wooden plaques. They ran downstairs to meet with the others, and as the fire grew more, they picked their bags and when the night was almost as bright as day around their house, they started running for their lives, and they kept on running ignoring the livelihood they were abandoning now, ignoring the chirping of the fire consuming their home, and even ignoring the bullets that flew near them with little accuracy, as the snipers couldn't see them in the middle of such a bright light.

Nana had placed her two prosthetic arms inside the bag she was carrying, because she needed as much control on her vectors to make sure the bullets wouldn't touch her nor Kouta during the escape, and the rubber arms were simply getting in the way. But looking at her without arms was such an eerie sight for everyone, especially Lucy who was responsible for it.

Lucy had chosen to run first to act as a decoy. She went running away, breaking everything she found in her way, to make as much noise as was possible to make sure that she would get chased by the most guards.

Yuka and Mayu went second to protect them from the fire if it started to expand through the house, and as neither of them had any vectors to cover themselves with, they needed as much time with the light blinding the snipers as possible. Nana's vectors could provide some extra protection to Kouta if something happened, but still they could not wait for too long.

Each of them took a different route, running into the dark night, hoping to be freed from their captors, and stay alive after the chaos and commotion. Lucy took a straight line from the front of the house, since she wanted to be chased, not caught. So she impulsed herself with her vectors over rooftops and walls, and over them she always broked something as noisily as possible.

The snipers in front of the house saw her just passing above their heads, and noticed the pink hair on her head. They had received enough instructions to which targets where the most valuable and dangerous. So they abandoned their positions to go after her. However, Lucy was too quick, and they could barely keep up with her speed. Soon enough one of them put on his night vision googles on again, and aimed his rifle towards her. Every bullet was a straight hit, but also every bullet ricocheted from her body, leaving her unharmed. Her vectors were still a great protection.

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Mayu and Yuka took the road to the left of the entrance. And for a good time they were undisturbed. But it was not long before they would hear a motorcycle behind them, engraved on one side of it, the words "Secure. Contain. Protect."

Yuka picked Mayu on her arms and tried to run even faster, but she was no match for the motorcycle that quickly overcame the distance between them. The sheer terror that invaded their hearts when they saw the man wearing a fully covered face helmet wich had inscribed the words "MTF Beta-7: Maz Hatter" aiming a 9mm gun at them. A single word came from the man with a calmed voice.

"Down" He ordered.

Yuka placed Mayu on the ground and pushed her behind her back, trying to shield away the little girl from harm.

"If you are going to shoot someone just do it to m..." A bright light came out from the gun, a powerful explosion and a bullet came flying. She couldn't finish her words, as the bullet had passed right above her right ear, and barely touched it. She started bleeding slightly from it.

"I did not miss." said the man "The bullet went exactly where I wanted it to go." He paused for a moment and ominously said with a calmed tone "Down."

Yuka's body felt weak. Her knees felt almost like bending on their own, and she placed her hands over her head, and turned her head towards Mayu, and said. "Just do what he says." she told the little girl that was just as scared or even more scared than Yuka herself, and she fell on her knees and placed her hands over her head, just like her adoptive mother had done.

"Both of you have black hair. That means that neither of you have those invisible hands. Which in turn means that you are not that big of a threat. So we are going to wait here until another member of my team comes. In the mean time, I shall handcuff both of you. Please do not resist, or I will be forced to kill you."

The man approached them and placed handcuffs over Yuka's hands with no problem. Then he approached Mayu, but as soon as he placed a hand on her, she screamed in desperation and jumped instinctively in an irrational impulse. Her head hitted the man's helmet on the front with the back of her own head. She fell down feeling dizzy, and the man fell back.

"Mayu!" The fear in Yuka's voice was horrifying.

"Damned Brat!" said the soldier incorporating and hitting Mayu with the back of the gun on the side of her neck, knocking her out.

"Stop it! Please! She's just a girl!"

The man aimed his gun at Yuka and said. "All I know is that she is a potentially infectious SCP. And my time working at The Foundation has taught me that any potential SCP should be treated as a threat. No mercy or contemplations. If you attack me, consider yourself lucky if you don't get a bullet in the head."

Yuka shutted up, and felt defeated as she saw how the man handcuffed the knocked down Mayu and placed her body away from her. Yuka felt both impotent to protect her, and also alone, as Mayu had been her only company until this moment. What would happen to them now?

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Nana and Kouta had left the building running in the opposite direction to Yuka and Mayu. Most of the snipers had either being blinded by the fire, or they were gone chasing after Lucy, so they fled the scene quickly and felt no threat during their escape. A sensation of hope built inside Kouta's heart. Maybe they will make it. Maybe they can actually pull it off. Maybe...

A distant explosion was heard. He heard an unfamiliar and disturbing sound, as if a cube of jello would have been crushed by a boulder. He feared turning back to what he would find.

A single shot was all it took to completely destroy one of Nana's rubber legs, and she fell down to the floor, when she lost the control of her balance. She let out a pained grunt, and Kouta rushed back to help her. But as soon as he had his arms around her, a dozen soldiers with gas masks and helmets were surrounding them, all of them pointing machine guns at them.

"If you dare to attack us." Said Nana as seriously as she could. "I will kill all of you."

"If any of them even moves an inch," said one of the soldiers, that would apparently be the leader of the team. "kill the one with the black hair first." And all of the machineguns pointed at Kouta.

Nana understood then. The soldiers knew the humans she loved were her weakness. If she attacked, Kouta would die. If she tried to run away, Kouta would die. And his dead would be her fault. A sense of despair and desperation overtook her, and in that instant she did the most impulsive thing she had ever done. She jumped over Kouta and took him to the ground.

The sound of gunfire and the lightning of explosions made their presence upon the pitch dark of the night. The dust of the pulverized concrete that was lifted covered the soldiers' sight, and they could not see either one of them in the middle of the circle. But the Foundation takes no risks. A couple of fumming cannisters were thrown into the middle of the circle, and with the dust dissipating, they saw the two people unharmed, and the bullets laying around them were a testament of the resilience of Nana's vectors.

"Is that..." said the weakened voice of Nana "...all you..." the cannisters where emanating a white smoke around her and Kouta. "...have?..." and her head fell to the ground.

"Sleeping gas?" said the heavy breathing voice of Kouta. "Seriously?..." and he also fell unconscious.


	7. What part of 'Cooperation' didn't you understand?

"...Two guards will be set in place in any room for each person or SCP present." He heard a voice he could barely recognize. "And the one with pink hair will remain in an induced sleep with somnifers, until you are instructed otherwise." He saw the man in a white coat talking to a soldier.

"W-what happened?" Asked Kouta disoriented and loud enough as to be heard. "Where am I?"

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to escape, right?" Said the now more recognizable voice of Dr. Jack Bright. "You walked right into the Mobile Task Force's ambush. The same as your friends over there." he signaled towards a corner where Yuka and Mayu were crouching. He could not see their faces, but he noticed they were trembling in fear. He felt angry, and dizzy, although the second part would probably still be the effect of the sleeping gas that was still not entirely worn off.

"Damn you Bright! Our life was fine until you and your Foundation came along!" He said enraged.

Bright smiled widely and said "I have to say, I could almost admire your little number." Kouta did not like that commentary. "I mean, running away is one thing, but setting your house on fire as a diversion... that truly is a stunt wordy of a mad genius. It's one of those things that I could come up with." Bright laughed maniacally, and Kouta felt insulted by being compared to him.

"I can't see anything funny." said Kouta "We risked it all for a chance to..."

"To do what?" said Bright losing his smile instantly. "We had an agreement. You would cooperate with us, and we would protect you."

"Protect us? By imprisoning us in our own home?"

Bright laughed again "Imprisoning you? You have no idea of what being imprisoned by the Foundation actually means. You would have been treated as guests. We would have given you limited freedoms. After all we already got the results of your tests, and as it turns out, the diclonii were right, none of you is infected except for them. But you were too eager to jump to conclusions and too convinced that we were your enemies. Too impulsive. Now we won't be as generous as before. All of you will be separated into different confining cells in a facility of the Foundation, and from now on..."

"Come on Jack, aren't you being a little too harsh on them?" said a female voice coming from behind Kouta. As he turned his head, he noticed that Arakawa had been there all along.

"Harsh?" he answered back in disbelieve. "This bunch of morons have caused us a lot of trouble, just in case you haven't noticed." he said signaling the room around them that was soaked in water and with the smell of burnt wood filling it.

Kouta then noticed where they were. They were back in the house. The second floor to be precise as the first one would probably be still staggered with all the furniture they had lowered. The water had really being useful at protecting the majority of the structure, but the smell of humidity and burnt coal was still around them. Then he noticed that they were all standing over the wooden floor, still a bit humid, but that had obviously been dryed beforehand. How long had he been aslept?

"Would you say that you wouldn't have done the same in his position?" asked Arakawa to Bright. "Would you have stayed still knowing that an institute as the SCP Foundation is after you and your beloved ones? You said it yourself, his stunt is something you too could have come up with."

Jack looked at her intensely, he wanted to refute her... but she was right, maybe he would have also done the same, perhaps he would have been even more destructive in his way out.

"Maybe." he said "But still, the other diclonius, our main source of the original virus, is gone. Just a friendly reminder, Arakawa."

"Please," said Arakawa moving her head from side to side "we have the only people she cares about. Soon enough, she will come to us."

"And what do you propose that we do about them?" said Bright signaling the rest of the prisoners.

"Keeping the silpelit aslept is a real necesitty at this point, since she could actually cause real harm on all of us. As for the humans. Well.. I see no point in separating them. They would only be dangerous if any of them were infected and were having a child, but they are not. You are not, are you?" she asked the black haired people.

Kouta and Yuka exchanged worried looks, and Yuka said "Not that I know." and Kouta let out a relieved sigh.

Arakawa was slightly amused by that response, and then continued "Maybe they could still be allowed around the silpelit as long as they behave. I think that maybe if we show them some leniency, they might be more cooperative next time."

Bright was not amused in the slightest "If they try to escape again, or if something goes wrong because of your leniency, I will not give you any protection from neither your institute, nor mine." he said with the most serious expression he could show. "If your bosses find out about your little betrayal, or if my bosses decide to treat you as a D-class and make you the next snack of SCP-682, then I will not help you."

Arakawa's expression turned somber and worried. "Understood." she said "I will take full responsibility for it."

Bright simply nodded as a sign of approval, then turned to the black haired prisoners, and told them "Do you hear that? A complete stranger puts her life in the line for this pointless family of yours. You better show her some appreciation."

Kouta looked at Arakawa, and saw that she was truly scared. Bright might be crazy and dangerous, but Arakawa was not. She had been trying to help them from the beginning. Even now she tried her best to keep them together, even risking her own safety. She was trying to do what she thought was right.

"Can I talk to you alone, mister Bright?" said Kouta calmedly.

Surprised, and curious Bright answered "This should be interesting."

Both of them left the room and went into an empty one. The moisture was stinking the place.

"So. What did you wanted to say?" asked Bright trying to go straight to the point.

"I want to apologize." said Kouta with honesty. Bright said nothing and just listened. "Maybe we started of with the wrong foot. I am just trying to protect the people that I care for. And being imprisoned, attacked and harassed just didn't help one bit in trying to keep the peace between us... you know... between your Foundation and my family. We tried to escape, because you came off as a threat. And from threats you either run or fight."

Bright thought about this. His own recklessness had played a big part on their paranoia. He could not blame them entirely. He had been a prisoner alongside his own teams throught the years in the Foundation, so the impulse of Fight or Flight was no stranger to him.

"Very well. I accept your apology. And I must admit my own mistakes." started Bright, maybe trying to build a bare minimum of trust with them was the best option for now. "I have confronted similar threats to the diclonius virus." the SCP-610 'The Flesh That Hates' came into his mind as one of the worst ones, and that one IS a mindless monstruosity. "Maybe I mistook the diclonius virus as similar to other threats. But that might have been a rushed mistake by my part."

Both men regarded at the other with a bit more of respect. A family man focused on the ones he cared for, and a man with a mission for protecting humanity. Both respectable goals. Both trying their best in their own way. Too bad that their objectives were trampling over the other's.

"I will keep your family safe. As best as I can. You have my word." said Bright.

"I will talk to them. Maybe we can figure something out." said Kouta, and then he thought of something else. "Is Miss Arakawa going to be alright?"

"That depends on whether you and your family behave properly or not." said Bright with a disdainful tone. He realized that her life was still valuable even if they tried to escape again, as she was still their best shot at finding a cure, so letting her die at the Diclonius Institute or inside The Foundation was really not an option. But she did not need to know that, and neither did Kouta nor the rest of his family. "One more thing. What about Lucy? She is still on the loose."

Kouta thought about it. "Will you imprison her?"

"I hope I don't have to." answered Bright. "Maybe she will listen to you."

"She can be... difficult, to say the least."

"If you are willing to cooperate with us, truly cooperate, then I will allow you to find and talk to her."

"I might need Nana. She can confront her with her vectors."

"No." said Bright firmly. "I will not have two infectious SCPs running around if I can prevent it. They might cooperate between themselves and go against us. They still pose a threat to humanity."

Bright was right at that point. Or at least justified for thinking that. But seeing Nana unconscious all the time would be heartbreaking. Not listening to her eager enthusiasm whenever she ate anything prepared at home, or her energetic clumsyness when she helped clean the house. The thought of her silence was overwhelming.

"When will you let her wake up?" asked Kouta

"Please don't ask me that." said Bright "If we can't control her when she is awake, then we cannot wake her up."

"Maybe that is also a mistake. Trying to control them. They are people too."

Bright scoffed the commentary "You are emotionaly involved with them. Of course you see them as such. But your emotions are clouding your judgment. We don't imprison them at random or just for fun. We do not keep them asleep just because we have a lot of anesthesia to get rid of. We make sure that the SCPs don't do whatever they want because sometimes what they want to do is to harm people or even destroy humanity, or the universe."

"Then why should I help you, then? If helping you means that some of the ones I love will be imprisoned forever."

"It won't be forever if we find a CURE!" screamed Bright already tired of the emotional bullcrap coming out of the other man's mouth. "Lucy is Patient Zero. We find a cure for her strain of the virus, then we find a cure for ALL the strains of the virus."

"Wouldn't that take years?"

"Of course it would. Luckily, Arakawa has already being working on finding a cure for years. She is on the brink of finishing it. We just need Lucy as a source for samples of the original virus. We are basically at the final stage of trial and error to see which method works best to either block the transmition of the virus between the infected people and the non-infected, or, even better, to entirely eliminate the virus from a hostage." Bright let out an exasperated sigh. "Nana will remain asleep, and she will remain with the rest of this family. I will make sure that the Foundation respects the lot of you as best as possible, but we still cannot allow all of you going wild around, and we still need to capture Lucy. The sooner that happens, then the better for everyone."

Kouta realised that Bright was not going to give in another inch from that bargain. There simply wasn't any other thing he could give an inch away from.

"I'm sorry then." he said "You will have to capture Lucy on your own. We will not help you."

"Suit yourself." said Bright. "Don't complain to me later on if we have to harm her to do so."


	8. Hitchhiking.

The Foundation personnel had kept Bright's word. They treated them more as guests and not prisoners. The cleaning team had been very effective and had gotten rid of the water flooding all of the floors, and the remnants of the burnt ceiling had been cleared, and an improvised temporary rooftop had been placed. All in all, the damage had been kept to a minimum, and in a matter of a single day the house was entirely habitable again.

The vigilancy around the house was placed again, and a second undercovered task force had been sent around the city to try to find Lucy. The first poor shmuck that had crossed her path was found shredded into pieces just some hours after the deployment of the search teams. Then a second man had been found. And a third. By following the pattern, it was apparent that she was already moving towards her house. For the time being, instead of chasing her, they would let her go to them.

Lucy was still agitated after killing the three men. Not a single member of her family showed itself at the train station as it had been arranged, and she had waited for an entire night, she didn't mind sleeping on the floor, she had it far worse in the Diclonius Institute. Then in the morning a man had pulled a gun against her head and told her not to move. Terrible idea, as she was in no mood to tolerate threats brought by nobody. A horrible sensation of anguish and anger filled her entire body, rendering her even more dangerous.

She realized that she needed to be as stealthy as possible now, she had been too reckless to be found by the three men before, so now she looked behind every corner to make sure that nobody would be following her. She realized also that if her family was not able to reach the appointed destination, they must have been captured. Last but not least, she was the one they needed most, so they would use them as bait, and set her a trap.

She still had no intention of getting caught again. But how?

First of, no more killings until absolutely needed, and only to escape a difficult situation. Second, hide her hair and horns from sight. A wide hat made sure of that. Third, cover her face with a scarf and dark glasses, and change her entire outfit, just to make sure she wouldn't be recognized as easily. She had stolen every item she needed from different sales points, after all, her invisible vectors could be very handy indeed.

She needed yet another diversion that would distract whomever would be guarding the house. This seemed a bit harder than hiding her presence, mostly because they were not dumb people, not nearly as the guards at the Institute. After all, at the Diclonius Institute they couldn't manage to stop her from escaping an enclosed environment, but the Foundation had managed to stop Nana in an open escape route. Not nearly as incompetent.

But how? What would give her the distraction she so needed? More destruction? Killing them outright? Another fire? Any destruction she would cause might affect others. Any killings she would make could be met with retaliation against her family. A fire could catch on the house they were hiding.

But then the answer presented itself before her.

"Hey gorgeous." said a man with long dark hair and a beard in a very elegant car that she had never met before. "That is a very nice dress you are wearing."

First she thought about just walking straight ahead, not paying attention to the man. But he was persistent.

"Come on girl, aren't you even going to say hello to me? Don't you like my car?"

Silence was the only answer, even when her blood was boiling by the nuance of this pest.

"Where are you going? Maybe I can get you there? I won't charge you. What do you say sweety?"

She stopped for a second. She wasn't interested even a bit by this man. But maybe she could use him. She still needed to get closer to the house. Maybe if she took his offer, and let him drive to the house, the guards might let them pass along. It wasn't the most ideal plan, but it might work, after all, she was supposedly so dangerous that she would never be able to make friends with another human, so why bother stopping two people in a car, because she could not possibly be one of them?

"If I go with you, you will take me exactly where I tell you. No questions asked." She told the man.

"OOOHHH, we have a strong character, don't we?" said the man in the car with the most prickly tone of voice she had ever heard. "Maybe I will take you, but only if you say 'please'."

She was so annoyed by that line that for a second she thought about just killing him and think of something else. But there was not really too much to win from it, and it seemed easy enough.

"PLEASE take me to wherever I tell you to." She said exasperated.

"Fair enough. Hop in." he said and opened the door of the car for her. Lucy just got in, and started giving him instructions.

"What is your name?" he asked her.

"Not of your business. Turn left here and go straight ahead."

"Not very friendly." He said. Funny enough, as soon as he turned the wheel to the left, a clunky metalic noise was heard. Probably the engine. "Do you live around here?" he kept on pushing.

"NOT of your business."

"Come on girl, did you really hopped on my car and won't even talk to me? I'm doing you a huge favor here."

"Where do YOU live? What is YOUR name?" she asked him getting tired of the questioning.

"My name is Munru. And I don't live around here." He said. "I actually don't really live anywhere in particular, I travel a lot because of my job."

"What is your job?"

Munru gave her a mocking smile and said "Not of your business." Lucy just scoffed at that answer.

"On the next exit to the right." She instructed him. "And do you like picking random girls from the streets? You might find yourself before a bad person one day." A tinge of blood thirst was coming from her voice.

As the car turned the corner there was again that clunky metalic noise "I wouldn't worry so much about it."

"Why not? You never know when you are before a threat."

He gave her a light smile and said "Indeed you don't." He then gave her a calmed look, and continued. "Maybe I like danger. Or maybe I am the dangerous one."

Lucy didn't feel very comfortable with that statement. She had her vectors so she was safe if he tried anything weird, but still something was off about him. Too much confidence for a weak human that she could break easily.

"And if you are not the most dangerous one in the city?" she asked him "And if you would find a monster?"

"I might just have to tame it." he said without skipping a beat, unlike Lucy.

She let out an akward laugh, and said "Ok, you got me on that one. On the next exit to the right, and then just stop the car."

"Was that good enough to know your name?" again the metalic noise and the turn.

"Very well, what could be the harm? My name is Lucy."

"Of course it is." he said with a smile. "And here we are, lady." the car came to a full stop. She was still a block away from the house, but getting too close to it might be suspicious.

"As soon as I get down from the car, just drive away, and don't look back." she told him.

"Not even a thank you? Won't you give me your number?"

"My number is 12," she said as both a personal joke of the prisoner number she'd been given at the Institute, and a way to dodge the question. "And for the time being, consider that you are still breathing as my way of thanking you."

"A pretty face but a harsh heart. You won't make many friends like that." he said as he unlocked the doors and let her out "one last friendly advice: don't get into cars with strangers, sometimes they are not quite exactly friendly. I'll see you around, Lucy."

"I don't think we will ever meet again." she told him.

"I wouldn't be so sure about it. Good luck." and he drove away.

Lucy still felt the whole interaction as weird and somehow out of place. But no matter, the man was gone, and no longer her concern. She walked as calmedly as she could towards the front of the house, and in the front door there was Jack Bright just waiting there.


	9. Confront the truth about yourself.

"Welcome home, Lucy." Bright said with his strangely calmed tone. "Do you want to come in?" he said as he entered the house. Where were the guards? Where was her family? Why weren't a dozen firearms aiming at her? Something was screaming inside her that she should just get away. But her family might still be inside. What if Bright was experimenting on them? On Nana, or Mayu, or Yuka, or Kouta?

She ran towards the door, opened it and threw herself inside. She found herself inside a room filled with light. She looked around, and it was almost completely empty, except for a bookcase with some dusty books, and a chair in the middle. There was a brief moment when she hesitated if she should get out the room, but the door had closed behind her and somehow dissapeared. Now she had no choice; she had to confront him, so she just walked inside the room.

She was alone in the middle of what seemed like a white, endless void. But on the ceiling... was it the sky? there where the numbers: 0,0,0,0,59,58, and the last number was lowering: 57, 56, 55... it looked like a countdown clock.

"Hello Lucy." said Bright's voice from... nowhere. Everywhere? His voice had resounded all over the empty room, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. "You have been a very naughty girl lately."

"Where are you?" she asked to the air "I want to see you."

"As you wish." he said, and from behind the bookcase, she saw the man coming out and taking a seat on the chair next to it.

She jumped towards him. She tried to hit him with her vectors, but he jumped from the chair and started to dodge them. He moved to the left, to the right, jumped up, and back, avoiding even the slightest contact with any of her attacks. He moved like a ghost. Out of his robes he seemed to take out a rock that he threw at her, but she could stop it with one of her vectors. She tried to counter attack but she was yet again avoided. Then an unusually large amount of small rocks came flying towards her. She could cover her face from most of them, but one of them landed right between her nose and her upper lip. He wasn't even trying to harm her, but was merely teasing her.

"Damn you!" she yelled enraged, still trying to catch him however she could. But suddenly, Bright jumped up, and he didn't came back down. He stayed up in the air, floating. She tried to jump up and catch him, but no matter how high and how fast she jumped, she could not reach him, because he seemed to be able to fly as fast and as far as he needed in order to avoid her touch, but he always stayed just a little farther away than her two-meters-vector-range.

"Come down here and fight like a man!" she said.

He just laughed and said "I suppose you cannot come up here and fight like a balloon."

She frowned and said "what the hell do you want?"

"I just want to talk to you. Not to fight you."

"Why would I talk to you?"

"Because if you ever want to have a family again, you have to listen to what I have to say."

"What?" she thought about Kouta and the others "What have you done with them? Where is my family?" she said to the man.

"If you want to know, take a seat, lower down your vectors and don't take them out again."

She paused for a second... but somehow she realized that there was no other choice. She took the chair next to the bookcase and dragged it beneath where Bright was floating. He came down slowly, getting close enough as to talk to her, but far enough as to be away from her vectors.

"Alright then. Where are they?"

"They are safe. For now. But if you are around them, then they would be running a grave danger, don't you think? After all, you are a killing machine."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed "Where are they?! What did you do to them?!"

"Me? I haven't done anything to them. You on the other hand... have done terrible things to them... or rather to one of them... Kouta was it?" she flinched back. "Ah, yes... you remember it don't you? Let me refresh your memory a bit more." he said that last sentence with a chillingly creepy tone.

The room suddenly changed. It turned into a train wagon. A very familiar one. One she remembered from her nightmares and regret-filled memories. The wagon had only four visible people apart from herself and Bright. A young boy by the name Kouta and a young girl called Kanae, a man with dark hair as well that was their father, and a little girl with horns and pink hair, sitting in the other side of the wagon. Lucy knew what would happen. The boy and the girl with black hair started fighting about 'an explosion that was caused by a girl with horns and pink hair', she said that she had seen it, and he said that she was lying. The girl with pink hair stood up from her seat, and walked to where the other children were fighting. The young Kouta saw her, and said joyfully 'Hey! You made it! You came here!'.

'Brother, it's her!' said the little girl standing between Kouta and the girl with horns. 'We have to leave or she will kill us!'

'Liar.' declared the pink haired girl with a doom filled voice, as she prepared her vectors to attack.

'No!' screamed Kanae, pushing the other girl to the floor. Lucy knew what was coming next, and she could not let it happen. Not again.

Lucy ran and stood between the two girls, facing the little one with pink hair, while trying to shield the black haired people from her. She turned on her vectors to try to counter the other one's if she tried to attack.

"If you do this, you will regret it for the rest of your life." Lucy said to the pink haired girl with tears forming on her eyes.

Kouta slapped his sister on the cheek and said. 'What is wrong with you? Apologize to her or I will hate you forever.' Lucy realized this was the moment that changed everything for the worst.

'No!' said Lucy as she tried to throw herself over the pink haired girl to try to stop her attack on the others. But her body just passed through her, like passing through fog, or smoke.

'No! Brother! Don't hate me...!' said Kanae just before the pink haired girl with horns slashed her in half.

Kouta saw her body falling over the floor with a blank stare, and he screamed in horror realizing that he had just seen his sister dying and his last words to her were '...I will hate you forever.'

Lucy realized that she couldn't change this. That this was just her memories playing back over to her. She closed her eyes to try to ignore what would happen now. She heard the horrified screams of the boy when he saw his father being decapitated, and his cries asking the girl with horns why had she done this to him, if they were friends.

'We are friends. That's why you are still alive.' said the girl with pink hair. Lucy clenched her teeth at that. How she hated those words now. She had been running that same memory through her head for years, and every single time she remembered that instant, she hated herself. 'Now I will kill that girl.' finished the girl with horns.

'Yuka...' whispered Kouta, and threw himself over the girl, and repeatedly hit her body against the floor, crying and screaming 'Stop! Stop already! No more! Please!'

Lucy tried to reach for the boy. To hug him and tell him that she was sorry. But her hands just went through his body like going through air. Everything just kept on happening, as if she would have not been there at all. She cried uncontrollably, knelt down clawing at her head, the regret filled her every breath.

"There is nothing you can do to change the past" said Bright's voice from behind her back.

Suddenly, everything disappeared again, and they were in the middle of the white void once more.

"Why?" said Lucy with a broken voice "Why did you make me see that again?"

"Because you must learn something from your past." said Bright.

"There is nothing I can learn from it anymore."

"I disagree." said Bright. "Your whole life you have been nothing but a murderer. A threat to everyone and everything around you. You are not worthy of having friends. You don't deserve to have a family..."

Lucy used her vectors to cut his legs off. Bright fell to the floor, in pain and agony.

"Why?" he asked, crawling away from her. "why did you cut my legs?"

"You bastard! Where is my family? Where is Kouta?!"

"Don't you remember?" he said. "You cut them all into pieces."

Her eyes widened in shock. She felt something pulling her leg. As she turned her head, she saw Nana cut at the middle, and without her legs, and only one arm, pulling at her side, with tears down her cheeks. "Why, Lucy?" Nana said "Why did you do this to me? I thought we were friends now."

"Nana!" Lucy let out a light scream, kneeling down to try to help her. "I didn't..."

"Why, Lucy?" said another voice behind her. She saw Yuka, without her legs and covered in blood "We left you come into our home, and you try to kill us." She was crawling and crying.

"Miss Yuka!" she yelled in horror.

"Please! Don't hurt us any more Miss Lucy..." said yet another voice behind her. Mayu's head was only attached to her neck and an arm. "What did we ever do to you? Why are you attacking us? Why?"

"Mayu! NO! This can't be happening!"

"This is your doing! This is your fault!" said one more voice. The one that hurt her most of all. She turned around and saw Kouta, holding Yuka's dead remains on his hands, crying over them. "Is this what you wanted? This is what you've done." He said.

"Kouta..." she whispered and her tears were falling from her eyes "I didn't do this..." she said horrified. And suddenly, she saw how he hanged a rope from a pipe on the ceiling. She tried to run towards him, but with every step, the scene in front of her seemed to get away with the same speed as she was running.

"I have failed. Please forgive me." whispered Kouta. And she saw how he hanged himself before her eyes. Soon he was dead too.

"NOOO!!!!" she screamed desperated. "NOOOO!!! I didn't want this! I didn't do this! Kouta! Yuka! Nana! Mayu! My family!!!" She fell on her knees, feeling every breath she had as a cruel reminder of her wreched existence. "I didn't do this..." she whimpered.

"You didn't?" said Bright's voice resonating around the room. "Perhaps you didn't do it to them, but you did brought this madness on others."

Lucy tried to catch her breath. "W-What?" she whispered.

"How many people have you killed?!" she turned around, and saw how every one of her friends became a different person, and with a scenery from her past murders. She saw, for the first time, what the massacre she had caused truly meant. "How many have you dismembered?! How many have you beheaded, or cut into pieces?!" She saw mothers and fathers mourning their sons and daughters, holding their severed heads and torsos on their arms, and children trying desperately to wake up their dead parents and siblings "How many families have you torn apart?!" She saw a funeral filled with people crying for the lost people in coffins "How many friends have been lost to your hand?!" And then she saw herself standing above a pile of dead bodies, covered entirely in blood "All because of your blood-lust. Because you would not confront the murderous voice inside of you!"

"I... I... I didn't know!" she screeched crying. The blood-filled nightmare vanished. And in front of her, was Jack Bright, standing before her, without a single scratch on his body, even after she had tried to cut him in half, he was looking down with a saddened look upon his face. "I didn't know" she whispered.

"You didn't know." He said. "That is your excuse." disdain was clear through his voice "But now you do know, so you no longer get to use that excuse, nevermore."

Lucy felt her heart crushing. It had been an illusion. Yet it felt so real. So. God. Damned. Real.

"There is only one thing left now." continued Bright "What will you do now? What will you choose?"

Lucy stared at him. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant. "What do I have to choose exactly?" she said whipping the tears from her eyes, trying to regain her composture.

"You are the only diclonius that can have fertile children. And you are infected with the virus. But whether you, or anybody else believes it or not, you are human. As human as me, as human as Kouta, as Yuka. As anyone else on the Earth. If you wouldn't have been infected with the virus, you would not have the horns, or the vectors. You would be just another person walking on a planet in the middle of a galaxy, floating to nowhere in a vast and uncaring universe. But you were born with a disease that you didn't choose, and THAT has shaped every aspect of your life, and your personal choices have built up until this very moment. You must choose what you want. What do you value most? Your own hatred towards humans? Or the humans that now you love?"

Saying that, he took out a bunch of papers from his coat "The antivirus is almost ready." he threw the papers by her side. Apparently they contained a copy of the progress on the antivirus research. "But we still need more samples of your strand of the virus to finish it." He looked at her with a mixture of compassion and disdain that Lucy didn't think was something possible. Everybody that looked at her had either seen her with one or the other, never both.

He then continued. "If you choose to have a life, if you renounce to the virus and the hatred that it has caused on you, then help us find the cure. Even if we find it, and even if you would take it, you would still have your vectors, you would still have horns, the antivirus could not affect your body as to change it in any aspect except two things. The first, your vectors would no longer infect others. And the second, your children, if you ever have them, will not be diclonius, they would be human, like the rest of us. But if you choose to hold on to your hatred and refuse to help find a cure, remember two more things: one, any person that is slayed by you, or your offspring, whether the silpelits you could create, or the children you could have, will rest above your shoulders, every single one of those deads, will be your fault. And two, Humans will hunt you down, and every other diclonius that you create, until there is only one of our races alive. And believe it or not we will win, because the antivirus might not affect all diclonius immediately, but it will affect a very big amount of uninfected humans, and there will still be humans being born in the future, even after all silpelits have died out. You might have been a threat, but we will not dissapear as a species. The Foundation will make sure of that. Eventualy the diclonius virus and every diclonius will be seen as just a mere problem of the past. A bump in the road of human history."

"This is not a choice then. This is just an ultimatum. I either help you find this 'cure', or the humans will hunt me and my children down. All of you really are that hateful."

"No, Lucy. Humans are aggressive towards everything they don't understand. And specially when they are attacked by others, they organize to defend themselves. Haven't you done that yourself? Besides the virus makes you far more likely to become aggressive, and that is why humans will hunt you. Otherwise they would not care at all. You might be able to control yourself from killing others, but it will be a matter of time before some other diclonius chooses to attack. You cannot choose that they remain peaceful, not when the virus will influence them to become aggressive."

"What about the children that tormented me when I was little, then?" she said, with pain and rage in her voice. "I never attacked them. I never was a threat to them. But they harmed me anyway."

"I never said that humans were perfect. Prejudice and hatred are everywhere. But it won't be cured with more prejudice and hatred. The children that hurt you were just a bunch of spoiled kids that could not tell that harming you was wrong. Pretty much like you were too. You didn't know how much harm you were doing during the massacres you committed. Does that mean you don't deserve one more chance at life? Does anybody that makes a stupid mistake deserve to be judged as harshly?"

Lucy thought about this. It was a lot to process. The children that had hurt her really were mean to her. But her actions to others were far worse. Her hatred was still deep inside her. And yet, here was a human offering her one more chance to be human. If the roles were reversed, if a human would have killed hundreds of her children, she would not have had any mercy. Was he better than her? Was he more 'humane' than her?

"So I have to wipe out my race to keep humans alive. To keep your peace." she declared disdainful.

"Your race? No. I used that word for a lack of a better one. Diclonius are not a different species, or even a race of humans. You are just people with an acquired disease. It changes your looks at birth, and gives you external symptoms. But your children will probably present none of those if you would take the cure. Races on the other hand, are determined by DNA, and it would be very hard or even impossible to change it. There is not a cure for a 'race', only for diseases. And you are not a disease, only a victim of one disease. But you are still human. All diclonii are just humans that are victims of a disease."

"Then that means that you simply want me to make my choice to favor humans."

"Lucy," Bright's eyes were filled with an expression of compassion "all I want is to prevent another bloodbath. Humanity already has too many of them right now. The wars, and ethnic cleansings that we have put ourselves through, that have happened before, and still happen today. It's monstrous. Please. Help me prevent any more deaths. Any more suffering."

Lucy stopped to think for a minute. Then, she said "If the virus has shaped me..." She said, looking at the papers on the ground "What will I be without the virus?"

Bright looked into her eyes and said "Free. You will be free. Free to make your life. To make your choices. Nobody will hunt you down anymore. Your children will be seen and treated like any other person, and every other person around you will just be another passenger of this planet we call Earth. You are not the virus, you are not the infection. And you will still be you, even if there is no virus inside you."

She stared at the papers. It all made sense. But why was she still so afraid? What was she losing if she helped them?

'He's lying' said the voice inside her head. 'He will betray you. He just wants to weaken you and then attack. All humans are your enemies.'

"Shut up and let me think." she said out loud while holding her head.

'KILL HIM. WE MUST KILL HIM. THEY ALL DESERVE TO DIE.' kept saying the voice inside her.

"SHUT UP!!!" She yelled at the air. Bright just stood there watching her struggle with herself. Then she looked up and told him "Will the cure make the voice inside my head go away?"

"I think that is a possibility. But I cannot be sure. If the voice is created by the virus itself as an anomalous effect, then the cure would make it go away. However, if the voice is a byproduct of a physical change in your brain that was caused by the virus, removing the virus would not remove the neural patterns that created the voice in the first place. In other words, even without the virus it is still possible that the voice will remain. But at the very least, your vectors would not be infectious anymore, and the voice of the virus, and the virus itself, would not spread to anyone else."

She looked back at the papers "I have to think about it."

"Very well. At the very least you will consider it." Bright smiled with satisfaction.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence, that was later broken by Lucy.

"Where are they?" she asked again, but this time more calmedly. "Where is my family?"

"Can you trust me just once?" he asked with sincerity.

"No." she answered

"A wise decision." he said. "But you will have to do what I ask you anyway. They are completely unharmed, I assure you that. But if you want to see them, you will have to come back here in about an hour. I need to clean this place before you can see them again."

"Why an hour?"

"You don't need to know everything, Lucy. As you must have noticed, there are forces in the universe that are far more powerful than you," he said this signaling all around the room "and I have confronted many of them, and won. There are things you are not prepared to know yet. But perhaps one day you will be. Besides, the time is about to finish." He said looking up to the clock in the ceiling. The time read 0,0,0,0,0,30, then the last number changed to 29... 28... 27... 26... 25...

Jack Bright yelled "Stop hiding the SCP!" as an order to the room, and something materialized from apparent thin air in the middle of the bookcase. Two metallic bookends with two dragon heads appeared with some papers between them. SCP-826, the bookends that made any story placed between them into a reality encased inside any room. From the bookcase he took the bookends and the manuscript in the middle of it, entitled: Jack Bright's All-Mighty-Room. A tale about an empty room that could do anything that Dr. Jack Bright wanted it to do with just consciously thinking it, and had an internal instinct to use its powers to defend him. There had to be a bookcase, so that SCP-826 would have a place to spawn and rest, but there were only blank books, and a couple of chairs where he could invite someone to sit and chat. In his original tale, the room remained empty for one thousand years. Unfortunately the SCP-826 spawned the story at a random point, so he had to add a clock in the ceiling marking the time left to the story in years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. He took the bookend and the manuscript... 15... 14... 13... 12... 11... 10...

Suddenly, the floor beneath Bright's and Lucy's feet morphed into something similar to two personal sofas... 9... that forced both of them to sit down... 8... and started moving very fast towards the exit... 7... the door reappeared and opened suddenly... 6... the sofas stopped abruptly just in front of the opened door, and they were ejected from the room immediately... 5... They crashed on the floor just outside the room, in a somewhat comical manner... 4... they incorporated... 3... 2... 1... the door to the white room closed on its own.

Fortunately, Jack had included that if the time was about to finish, the room would push anybody inside to the outside of the room safely, alongside the SCP-826 and the manuscript between it, because otherwise they would remain trapped in the loop of the story and would effectively be dead in the real world, to become just a fictional character inside some book. However, now the manuscript had some extra pages, where the interaction between him and Lucy had been written as a side effect of the SCP. Bright smiled and thought to himself, that this had been one of his most brilliant ideas so far. Perhaps he could play a prank on SCP-076-2 'Abel' with it some day, or even on the potential-reality-warper Alto Clef himself. Probably they would add this to the long list of things he was not alowed to do at The Foundation. But for now, it had served its purpose. Lucy would now consider if having a human life was viable for her, and help find the cure for the diclonius virus. It was the best outcome that could have come from this situation, and what he had planned (or at least hoped) would happen.

Jack Bright realized of something and started laughing hysterically, and said: "I never thought I would live through that... not ever. One thousand years, and it spawned just some minutes before the end... It was way more fun than what I would have imagined."

"What the hell was that about?" said Lucy even more confused now.

"It really doesn't matter. Not really..." He paused for a second before continuing "Anyway, you still have a choice to make, and since it seems that at least you will consider to live a human life, I will make sure that your good will be payed forward. I will give you back your family. But for now, leave, come back here in one hour, and I will be waiting with your family."

"How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"I need you to be my ally now." He said with a grin on his face. "I do not betray my allies as long as they are on my side."

"Will my family truly be here?"

"Of course. I have made my promise. And I deliver." He looked at her seriously to her eyes and said. "One hour. I promise."

"They better be here. Otherwise I will hunt you down and kill you. Even if it is the last thing I do."

"I'm sure you would." answered Bright with an ear to ear smile.

Lucy started walking away, but then she heard her name being called.

"Lucy," said Bright "You forgot to give a proper goodbye." He reached his hand towards her. She noticed that Bright was within range of her vectors. And yet, she did nothing. She just shaked his hand in a very awkward manner. "One hour." He said firmly, and she nodded. Lucy then went away... She had to think about so many things now, but in particular she had someone to talk to...

Jack looked at how she left, with some relief for having won a battle, albeit small, but still it was a step in the right direction. He picked up the SCP-826, and the manuscript and saved them inside his coat. He opened the door to what was the white room just some seconds ago. The white room had disappeared and he entered the hallway to Kouta's house. He took his phone and dialed the Foundation's number.

"Dr. Jack Bright, researcher level 4, iteration 18, on field duty at location temporarily designated as site 47. Temporary code 9-2-9-S-K-Y-L-I-N-E. Field report 04 - In previous reports I stated several problems with several VIP members located at site 47, including an escape attempt that culminated with the necessity to put one SCP, known as silpelit Nana under anesthetics to keep it unconscious, and also the escape of Patient Zero, a.k.a. the diclonius Lucy, and one of the main SCPs requiered for containment and neutralization of this anomaly. Today however, the VIP members were relocated at a secret location in order to safely regain contact with the aforementioned escaped SCP. The operation that was requiered will be explained in detail in the written report that I will send by an encripted channel. The operation in question proved to be succesful at regaining contact with the SCP, and she has agreed to cooperate with us in future efforts, under the condition that she be reunited with the rest of the VIP group. For the time being, I recommend that this course of action be taken, so long as she cooperates. However, it is also my recommendation to keep both SCPs under anesthetics in order to prevent more escaping problems in the future. The VIP group will be taken again into the original house where they had been kept at the beginning. That would be all. Dr. Jack Bright, out." and he hanged the phone. All things considered, today had not been such a bad day after all.

  
  



	10. The enemy inside.

Lucy wandered the streets. One hour she had to wait, but now she had something else to do. And it could no longer be delayed. The one true confrontation she should have faced so long ago. She walked into an alley that was mostly empty, except for a couple of mean looking men, that seemed to be talking about something strange...

"...the first rule is, I'm not allowed to talk about it." was saying one of the guys to the other. "The second rule is, I'm not allowed to talk about it..."

"Get lost." Said Lucy as soon as she was close enough for them to hear her.

"What?" said the fattest of the two guys. "Who are you to give us orders?"

"I said..." Lucy made her vectors pick up a huge garbage container that would probably weight a couple of hundred kilograms, and threw it just beside the men, barely missing the hit. "GET LOST!" 

Both men started running away, and Lucy sat down on the floor where the men had just been a second ago. And placed her head between her arms, and over her legs in a fetal position, and then she surrounded herself with her vectors, as an almost impenetrable and invisible cocoon.

"I know you are there" she said out loud. "Come on out. It's time for us to talk."

'Lucy.' said the voice inside her head. 'I am always with you, Lucy. After all, we are the same person.'

"Are we?" she asked. "Are we really the same person?"

'I am your closest friend. After all, I have been with you always. Protecting you. Helping you.'

"By killing all those people?"

'You were the one that did that. And it was the right thing to do. They were just humans. They weren't people.'

"You told me my whole life that humans had to be killed. And I believed you."

'I just want what is best for us.' said the voice in Lucy's head 'To create a world where we can live without any humans to harm us.'

"No." She said while thinking again on all the pain and suffering she had caused to others, to Kouta, and to herself. "You just are a blood thirsty monster. And I became one, because I followed you."

'I protected us. We are alive today, because I have been helping you. You were able to kill those evil kids because I showed you how. You were able to find food because you killed the humans that wouldn't feed you.'

"You just fueled my rage. You wanted me to hate humans, so that I may infect them or kill them. You were just helping yourself. You are the virus, aren't you? You really are an independent entity from me, aren't you?"

'...' Silence.

"Answer me!"

'I am a part of you. I have been with you since your birth.'

"And I no longer want you with me. I never should have let you control me."

'Don't be so ungrateful. You need me Lucy.'

"No. You are just a parasitic monstrosity. YOU needed me."

'Haven't humans harmed you? Haven't humans killed those you cared for?'

"For so long I have dreamed of vengeance on humans for the pain they caused me. Because I judged them based on the worst of them. And only on the worst that I had lived through." she said out loud "Because I never knew that they were capable of such beautiful things like love, friendship, and compassion. If being a diclonius means harming others and destroying families and friendships, then I want nothing to do with it."

'So that's it, then?' asked the voice. 'You turn against me just because some human told you that I am the evil one? You think you have a say in this matter? I will protect us Lucy. Even if it is against your will.'

"I will never let you control me again."

'Lucy, my dear. I never really controlled you. You were the one doing the killings.' the self-hatred that Lucy felt constantly started getting bigger. 'You enjoyed it, didn't you? The thrill of killing things weaker than you. The lovely sensation of taking the life of the humans you hate so much.'

"Shut up." she whimpered.

'Why? Do you want to be alone? That has always been what you have been doing. Getting yourself isolated and alone. Nobody loves you. Not really. They barely put up with you. Because you are a total burden to everyone around you. Or a constant threat to others. I am your only friend. The only one that always knows what you want... what you need. You don't need them. You only need me. You only HAVE me. You ARE me.'

Flashes of images filled her head. Every single murder she made, and the sensation of power that had filled her with every single one of them. A sadistic smile started drawing on her face... until... Kanae... Kouta...

"YYAAAAAAHHH!!!" she screeched horrified of her own feelings of sadistical satisfaction. "SHUT UP!!!" her breathing was broken and heavy. "SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP-SHUTUP!!!!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!! I AM NOT YOOOUUUU!!!!" Her vectors went off crazy around her, pulverizing the concrete and the walls she was nearest to. A blender would be the closest visual representation of this particular moment. It lasted just some seconds, but it was enough to make the entire block feel a small earthquake.

She clawed at her head and started ripping her own hairs from it. The sensation of pain was mitigated by her inner guilt and disgust. And now she saw the reality for what it was. She never had a friend standing by her, living inside her own head. She had a parasitic manipulator, and an enemy that had simply used and abused her stupidity and pain.

"I will put an end to you." she said to the virus "I swear, on my life, and by everything I care for. I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Suicide had crossed her mind in the past. Her own self hatred pushed her towards it. That was the reason why she had gone to the bridge to fight the army of the Diclonius Institute that night, simply because a part of her had hoped to die. The only reason she had kept herself alive for so long had been just to apologize to Kouta, and that night she had already done so. But now... now she had a purpose. The parasitic and fraudulent monster living inside her had been her only true enemy all along. Her hatred had always been misplaced. It wasn't humans. It wasn't herself she should hate either. It had always been THAT VOICE she should have hated from the very beginning. And the horror of that thing living on others... spreading to others... infesting others... pushing others towards hatred, loneliness, and destruction... the sole idea of such a thing existing was unbearable now. Unforgivable. Truly Unforgivable.

She stood up from her spot. A cold rage, and a never experienced before determination pushed her onward. Jack Bright wanted to find a cure to this disease. And a cure to this disease she would help find.

"I don't know if finding a cure will make you go away, but I'll be damned if I don't try to get rid of you." she said as she walked forward.

'LUCY. YOU NEED ME.' she heard the voice of the virus in her head again. 'HUMANS WILL BETRAY YOU. THEY WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE.'

"No" she said back at it, defying it "I have ruined my life already, and I have ruined dozens of other lives, because I listened to you. I won't let you ruin any more lives ever again. Not if I can prevent it." her tears were filled with rage and courage. And so, Lucy started running. There was no time to spare. The monster had to be slain. And any rambling it would keep on spitting, she would just ignore. She would be freed from it, for good...

  
  



	11. Home, sweet prison.

Kouta, Yuka, Nana and Mayu had been kept away from their home and taken to a comfortable but not very expensive hotel. Each had been given their own room, but were constantly being watched by guards. Nana had been kept unconscious, and the rest of her new family had constantly complained about it, but they didn't try to escape, or to force their way to try to wake her up, by the simple fact that Kouta had asked them to be as cooperative as possible, and because they were being treated with decency. As his personal way of thanking them for their cooperation, Jack Bright had ordered that a new rubber leg be brought to Nana, to replace the one that had been shot and destroyed during their failed escape attempt. This was merely symbolic, since Nana could not use it while being asleep. However, this did represented that, if she ever woke up, she would be able to move on her own again.

One day, out of seemingly nowhere, the guards that were kept around, simply rounded them up, handcuffed them and threw them in the back of a truck, including the unconscious Nana that was tied on a stretcher, and they were still surrounded by the guards, all of them with their insignias of the SCP Foundation, and the name "MTF Beta-7: Maz Hatter" printed on their helmets and jackets.

The truck moved for some time that none of them were sure about, although it didn't seem too long. Then it stopped. The doors were opened, and there were more of those damned uniforms standing outside with their weapons at their sides. Perhaps they would simply shoot them all in the back of their heads. Perhaps it would be easier for them to simply do what they usually did to contain a threat: To shoot and kill all the SCPs, and potential SCPs.

"Get out." ordered the voice of one of the guards.

Nana was carried out on her stretcher, and Kouta was shoved outside. He screamed for a second and then went silent. The terrified Yuka was then shoved outside too. Another scream, then silence. Was this it? Is this what life really was? Little Mayu thought for herself. A lifetime of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, and the jealousy-driven physical violence of her selfish mother, then years of suffering and hunger on the cold streets of an uncaring and cruel world, and then, when she had finally met a group of people that showed the slightest amount of love for her, the bare minimum of kindness towards anyone, they had all been taken prisoners by an organization that she barely knew or understood anything about, then they were all pushed inside a truck, and forced to go out to meet their end. Was this really it?

Another guard took her by the arm and pushed her outside. Soon, she too left out a scream and went silent. And a slight smile then drew itself on her face, while her hands covered her mouth. The surprise of seeing her home again in front of her. Kouta, and Yuka had had the same reaction, and they were all staring in disbelieve at their house.

Jack Bright had told them that Lucy would return to that house and that she would be confronted by the Foundation. But that none of them could remain in the house, supposedly for their own safety in case Lucy would go berserk. But why would they be returned here? What was the purpose?

"Welcome back." said the perpetualy amused smile of Jack Bright.

"W-What? why are we...?" murmured Kouta trying to find the right words due to the happy confusion he was experiencing at the moment.

"Why are you back at your home?" Bright finished the sentence for him. "Simple. I had a little negotiation with the diclonius Lucy, and we reached an agreement. You will be reunited with her soon enough."

Was it even possible to experience any kind of happiness when Bright was around? It had to be, because suddenly they were all feeling the joy of anticipation.

"What do you mean by 'soon enough'?" asked Yuka. "Isn't she here already?"

"No." answered Bright. "There was the need for some adjustments before you all can re-encounter with her. So I told her to return here a bit later. Now if you will follow me, please." Bright went inside the house, and was followed by the three of them and their respective guards, they were, after all, still prisoners.

They were taken to the second floor, and they were all placed in one of the usually empty bedrooms. Nana had been placed on the bed, with her arms and legs attached to her, so that she would look normal to Lucy's eyes. The rest had been made to sit on the mat-floor.

Soon enough, there was a knock on the door. And two guards went to open it.

"Jack Bright." said the pink haired woman at the door with a cold but calm determination. "Call him here. I need to speak to him."

One of the guards went upstairs and said to Dr. Bright "It's Patient Zero, sir. She has requested to speak to you."

Jack Bright came downstairs, and saw the pink haired woman there, just standing.

"Is my family here?" she asked.

"Yes." was his simple answer.

"Good." she said almost as pushing the matter aside for a moment, simply because something more pressing was in her mind. "How long will it take to develop the cure if I cooperate with you?"

Bright was completely caught off guard by that question "Hard to tell. But it shouldn't be long. Arakawa has made some very important advances with Nana's samples and the sample we took from you."

"Listen closely to what I will say," said Lucy again "because I cannot stress enough how important this is. I will cooperate to find the cure. I give you my most sacred promise, I swear it on the people I love. On two conditions. The first one, that you will leave my family alone once it's developed, and the second, that as soon as it is ready, you will cure me."

That last statement caught him even more off guard than the one before it.

"Lucy, I don't want to sound like I'm questioning your decision, but just out of curiosity, why did you have such a sudden change of mind?" asked Bright.

"The voice of the virus." she said "You were right about the virus pushing the diclonii to murder others. It has been inside my head for years now, always telling me that humans were my enemies. Always repeating that they will ruin my life, when it was me who ruined it by killing people. And I want that voice to go away. I don't want it with me anymore. I don't want to listen to it anymore. I don't want to kill nobody anymore. I want a life. I want a family. I want MY family." she started to cry, clenching her teeth and fists in anger and frustration. All the strength her vectors provided could do nothing against the virus itself. All that power, and she still felt impotent... as always.

Jack Bright looked at the girl with the same compassion that he had used when they were in the white void. Then he thought of something that would ensure that the Foundation made the most out of this opportunity.

"First things first." said Bright "I promised you I would bring back your family. They are waiting for you upstairs. However, three things I will ask of you, the first, you will not take your vectors out again. Two, you will handcuff yourself as a sign of good will, and the third condition I will give it to you when we are upstairs."

Lucy nodded, and walked inside alongside Bright. He gave her the handcuffs and she put them on herself.

As soon as they entered the bedroom where the rest of Lucy's family was, she noticed Nana aslept on the bed, and did not thought much of it at first, maybe she had just been tired. Yuka stood up promptly and took Lucy's hands inside her own. Mayu stood up, and placed her head on Lucy's shoulder. And Kouta, went ahead and placed his hand on the side of her cheek. They couldn't hug her because of the handcuffs they all were wearing. They were all prisoners now, but at least, they were together.

Lucy walked then towards Nana to try to wake her up, and after a few shakes, Nana didn't respond.

"It's time for the third condition." said Bright interrupting Lucy, stretching his hand towards her, and in it, a small syringe was inside. "This is a tranquilizer. You will put it on yourself, and it will make you fall asleep. This will allow us to have access to any sample we need from you, and will make sure that you will not attempt to escape."

Lucy stared at the syringe, and then back at Bright. He was wearing the same brown coat with golden buttons again. He had being showing good disposition with them, but he was no overly trustful dummy.

"No." she said.

"Lucy, if you are willing to cooperate with us..." started Bright.

"I never said I would allow myself to be uncoscious. In fact, I'm sure you didn't give Nana a choice at all." Lucy was holding back her agression as best as she could.

'Do you see now?' she heard the voice in her head again. 'They will betray you. They just want to make you a toy. And who knows what will they do when you are asleep. Maybe they will use your organs to make a barbeque for all you know.'

"Shut the fuck up!" she let out a silent screech while clawing her head. Lucy turned her sight at Bright again. "I have given you my word. I will help with the search for the cure. But I will not be asleep, since I am a deterrant of you harming my family, since you depend on my cooperation, and that I don't attack any of you either. Also I want Nana to be awoken too. I will make sure to try to convince her to be in the same track as the rest of us. But it must be HER decision. Not just her being unable to choose. That is my condition."

Bright did not like the entire scenario. He measured carefuly his options.

"I will not force you to fall asleep unless you attack us first. But I will not wake up the silpelit. It was already bad enough having to confront you, even when I had all the advantages at the proper moment. If both of you would turn on us, then the destruction you would cause could be very annoying indeed. So for the time being, I will allow you to stay awake, but only you. If this is not enough to guarantee your cooperation, I will have no problem in using your family as leverage, and force you to subjugate. But that would be a bad bussines for all of us, since your willful cooperation is far easier."

Bright stood up, and before leaving the room he said "Keep the syringe. If you change your mind and want to take a nap until the cure is found, you can always use it." And he walked away to the room that would be his office and bedroom during the forseable future.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, aside from the very emotional reunion of the entire family, and Bright asking Lucy for a sample of her blood, which she agreed to.


	12. Arakawa's empathy

Walking alone around the prison cells of the Diclonious Research Institute was bad enough on its own. The corridors were narrow, and the ilumination was always too bright, and the blandness and repetitiveness of the metallic walls were ennerving and boring. Add to that the fact that behind every door there was the threat of a violent creature escaping and trying to cut you in pieces, and the entire environment can get quite depressing.

Dr. Arakawa had been accustomed to being in bland corridors, but they were usually in the safe structure of a university, surrounded by research colleagues, and very little fire arms and guards. Aside from that, she usually experimented only with tissues in petri dishes, not really a fully breathing and living creature. Much less a creature that looks human, or talked or screamed in agony with every horrible experience it was forced into.

Still, depressing as the ambience was, she had a simple objective: To make sure that the screamings of agony would not happen anymore. Because she almost felt every single one of them as if she were the one screaming. So she marched forward onto the next containment cell. Number 38 was quiet, and young, not older than six years old. Her documentation read "First generation silpelit, offspring of one human female infected by a pure diclonius, with an uninfected human male. Three vectors, two and a half meters range. Vector resilience: median". Arakawa always noticed in her eyes a sadness and a longing for freedom, just as natural to any other creature. And it broke her heart to see her there, just like every other diclonius that, to Arakawa at least, was just a child in a terribly bad situation.

She entered the cell of number 38.

"Greetings, doctor Arakawa." said the man in uniform, whose name Arakawa had not bothered herself to learn, since they all looked so alike.

"Greetings, sir." she politely said "It is time for the weekly recollection of tissue samples."

"The usual procedure, miss?"

"Yes. You know what to do."

The man started pressing some buttons, which opened the containment cell and revealed the pink haired creature in the middle of a grappling metallic structure designed to cause her a lot of pain using electricity if she tried to move too far from the center, or if she showed any neural pattern in the scanner akin to trying to move her vectors. Every time Arakawa saw those metal cages, it almost brought her to tears, but she had to suck them up until she got home, where she was not so heavily watched over, and where she could let her tears run freely. So she put on her most serious face every time, only to think over to herself that she was doing what she could to actually release them... when the time was right. When the cure would be ready and deployed. It didn't stop her from thinking about how she would feel being locked up in one of those metallic hells.

She walked towards the cage, and from the suitcase she carried with her during these procedures, she produced syringes and crystal apparatuses that she used to collect different samples from the little silpelit in the cage.

"Hello, my darling." she told the silpelit, that moved only her eyes to see her. To some extent, the sadness in her eyes seemed to dissipate a little when she looked at Arakawa. "You know what I need today. I will try to make it as quick as possible. I don't want to bother you for long." The silpelit was muffled so she could not say anything, but something in her restricted body language showed that she was trying to get closer to her, as if her presence would not be a bother, but something she actually wanted.

As Arakawa took her instruments and started taking different samples, she started singing to the pink haired silpelit, to keep her as calmed as she could, and to distract her from any pain she could cause her. "Hush little baby, don't say a word." the girl's silence was more heartbreaking than anything else "Momma is gonna buy you a mocking bird." maybe one day she could get her out of this terrible place "And if that mocking bird won't sing, momma is gonna buy you a diamond ring" she inserted the needle in her forearm and started taking some blood out of her. "And if that diamond ring turns brass, momma is gonna buy you a looking glass", Arakawa just reflected upon how she would like to take care of her outside, in the real world "And if that looking glass gets broke and torn, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town." A small tear came down Arakawa's cheek, as she took some other samples from the silpelit, and the silpelit followed her every move with her eyes.

"You know..." said Arakawa in a little whisper, just loud enough so that only the little diclonius could hear her. "One day, I could take you out for a walk in a nice park, and maybe show you some nice flowers, and get you some ice cream... maybe." she tried to give her a little smile, but she couldn't, since she almost broke down crying... what if she could never take her out for a walk? What if she failed and this girl was simply doomed to spend the rest of her days caged and in pain? What if Arakawa would have been the one trapped in there, hearing a promise made to her about a simple walk outside that may never be fulfilled?

Arakawa patted the pink hair slightly, and then lowered her hand until she reached the cheek of the child. And before she would start crying uncontrollably, she took the samples, placed them in the respective compartment labeled "38" inside the suitcase, and walked away, and as she did, she could almost hear the silpelit trying to vocalize something. Some of the silpelits usually did. And from time to time, she thought she had heard them say something that sounded just a little bit too similar to "momma".

Then she walked towards cell number 39. Similar procedure. Different subject. This one in particular was far easier for her. She was a three years old, and she was kept permanently unconscious under anesthetics. It didn't seem to be in pain at all, or even aware of being experimented on. The description on the charts and documents of this silpelit was "Hybrid silpelit. Offspring of one human male infected by a second generation silpelit, and one human female infected by a first generation silpelit. Indetermined number of vectors. Indetermined vector range. Advanced Psicokinetical Abilities Detected."

Arakawa still felt bad for this one. Maybe it wasn't aware of any pain, or the experiments they could put it through. But what did it really matter if it was going to simply sleep all of her days away?... slowly getting older, without even enjoying her life even for a moment. Slowly dying. She was just another prisoner without a choice. Even without fault or guilt. Just another victim.

Although this creature did not seem to be aware of it, Arakawa started singing the same song that she sang for every other little girl she took samples from. It made her feel a little bit better too.

The procedure repeated over and over again until she completed all the sixty four prisoners they had in the cells.

Her hopes were always high when she finished taking the samples. Maybe this week would be the last time she needed to take the samples. Maybe this week the cure would be finished. And perhaps next week she could fulfill all the promises she had made to all the little girls she sang to.

Three guards approached her, and pushed her to the ground, taking away the suitcase full of samples she had harvested.

"Arakawa. You are under arrest accused of treason to the Diclonius Research Institute, and putting in jeopardy the safety of the entire town by taking infectious materials outside of the facility."

Maybe it wouldn't be this week. Maybe it wouldn't be any week at all...


	13. The battle at our doorstep.

The next morning came. With dreadful news from the part of Jack Bright. He gathered the entire family and told them what he had just realized.

"Dr. Arakawa has been taking samples from all the diclonius in the facility of the Diclonious Research Institute, to test the recent developments of the cure. Unfortunately, this has been drawing attention to her actions at the Institute, and apparently she has been under vigilancy lately. Because of the inherent peril that her involvement in this task carries, it was decided that she would be sending a message to me every eight hours, and that any two consecutive periods of eight hours missing a message would mean that she had been discovered and captured." Bright seemed extremely concerned now, and he passed his hand over his forehead, trying to think as fast as possible.

"The last time she sent a comunication message to me was over twenty hours ago." he continued "If she has been discovered, then the location of the diclonius Lucy and silpelit Nana in this household could be compromised. This means that the only acceptable course of action now is to get out from this house immediately, and relocate ourselves somewhere else."

"But... we just got back here yesterday." complained Yuka.

"Yes. And this location has been on the breach of being exposed from the very beginning." said Bright. "Besides, the only reason why I accepted your return to this place was to obtain Lucy's cooperation. I know you are emotionally attached to this place and all there is in here, but right now, this location may no longer be safe."

The entire family realized that he could be right. So he just continued his speech.

"From the new location we must start an operation of rescue for Dr. Arakawa, since she is the main developer of the cure, and losing her would mean that the development of it could be settled back several months or even years. To ensure the safety of all the members of this household, you will be escorted by especially apointed Mobile Task Force members. Most of them are guards you have already met here. But one of them has been especifically apointed for diclonius Lucy, since he is one of the few capable of confronting somebody with her capabilities, and because he volunteered himself for the challenge. I belive you have met him already, miss Lucy."

As he said that, a clunky metalic noise came from behind the door of the room, and when it opened, a man with long dark hair and a beard walked in. He was wearing a metal armor unlike any of the armors of the rest of the guards. It seemed far more heavily reinforced, and more technologically advanced. Lucy recognized his face immediately.

"Good morning to everyone." He turned his head towards Lucy. "And especially to you, miss Lucy."

It was the man that had taken her in his car yesterday. It had all been planned from the beginning. His job had been to take her to the house where Bright could coerse her to cooperate with the Foundation.

'KILL HIM.' said the voice of the virus. 'He is not to be trusted.' Lucy tried to ignore the voice, but the voice was right, she could not trust this man.

"Allow me to introduce you all to Lieutenant Munru." began Jack Bright. "Member of the Mobile Task Force Tau-Five, 'Samsara', composed exclusively from extremely advanced cyborgs. He will be your escort until we reach the new location, miss Lucy."

"It will be my pleasure to accompany and protect you." he nodded towards the diclonius with a politeness Lucy had never experienced before.

"As for the rest of you. Captain Carter, of the Maz Hatters, and his troop will be taking you to the new location."

Another eight men came in, this time in the usual gear of the rest of the guards, one of them took out his helmet to show his blonde hair, white skin and blue eyes. And a familiar voice that Kouta recognized. He was the man that lead the group that had captured him and Nana when they had tried to escape.

"Greetings. I hope that your cooperation will make this trip uneventful. Officer Lock has also been appointed to assist with the movement of the unconscious silpelit."

A second man removed his helmet too. This time it was a red haired man with his own beard, and a deep voice that made Yuka and Mayu shiver, as it was the same voice that had threatened to shoot them the night of the escape.

"Nice to meet you again." he said to the two women.

Bright was almost laughing his ass off, but kept his joke to himself. How funny was to see their expressions now that they knew who was going to watch over their safety.

But short was the time span that lasted the amusement brought by his malicious prank. A tremble and a loud deafening noise shaked the house they were in. Gun shots were heard, explosions coming from outside. A battle was starting to take place.

Another guard came in running to the room. "Master Bright! We are under attack!"

"No shit, Sherlock." said Bright sarcastically "Who is it? Where are they?"

"They are attacking at the front, by their insignias they seem like the military forces from the Diclonius Research Institute."

"Damn it. Arakawa must have talked. Which means that there is little time now. Here are your orders: we need to take this VIP group to safety, make sure to clear the back of this house from enemy forces so they can be taken away. Buy them enough time to escape, but holding this house under our control is not really a priority, so disengage from the attack at the earliest convenience, then head back to the Foundation's safe guard. And I don't want any of this assholes following us, so make sure of that. Capture a couple of them if you can, they might have some intel to gather. We will reorganize later on. Oh, I almost forgot..." Bright took out a silver medallion from his clothes, it was decorated with several diamonds and a red ruby at the center, placed it in a black metal box, and gave it to Captain Carter. "You know what to do with this."

Captain Carter took it, and saved it in his pants, and then nodded. A second explosion shaked the house. It was time to leave. And so Captain Carter guided the black haired VIPs to the first floor, where chaos had already ensued, followed closely by the rest of his troop, and with Nana being carried by Officer Lock. A barricade had been built at the front door. The two explosions had been caused by bazookas from the military of the Institute. As for Lieutenant Munru, he had also taken Lucy downstairs to find an exit through the back of the house. On the other hand, Jack Bright had already sent his medallion back with another member of the Foundation, so if this vessel died, it would not be much of a loss, so he took a machine gun from the closet where the rest of the weaponry of the task forces where, and headed down to the front of the house to keep up the defense.

The snipers of the Foundation had been taking out many of the soldiers of the Institute, but when they shot, they gave away their locations, and the blasts of the other military were reducing their numbers rapidly.

Lucy had seen some of the insignias of the Institute, and had a rage attack, so in an instant of impulse, she went at the front of the house to engage the people that had kept her trapped underground for years. The Samsara cyborg, Munru, chased after her.

Lucy used her vectors to cover herself from any bullets flying her way, and when the The Diclonius Institute forces recognized her as soon as she broke out of the house, then there was no shortage of flying bullets. Most of them where deflected by her vectors, and she started opening her way towards the first soldier she had in front of herself. With little effort, she managed to bring herself not further than a few centimeters away from him. She threw one of her vectors straight to his neck... and suddenly stopped. Why did she stop? The soldier reacted and pushed her away, then opened fire with his machine gun. Lucy managed to cover herself on time, and then jumped away from harms way. She kept on pushing towards the next soldier. And was ready to slash him in half... again her vector stopped mid way, barely pushing the man to the floor. He was mostly in shock but unharmed. Why? Why didn't she killed them? Why did her vectors couldn't slash them? Again the bullet rain over her got her out of her stuppor. She ran away from them... she couldn't kill them... she couldn't do it anymore. No more killings. No more deaths.

She found herself before a group of soldiers with bazookas. And then one of them opened fire. The blast hit her vectors at the height of her chest, and although they took most of the damage, she could not keep her balance and went flying to the ground. The explosion had been too powerful even for her vectors.

'I am so stupid.' she thought 'Why couldn't I kill them...? Why...?'

Another rocket was shot. Lucy saw it coming towards her, but it exploded middle way.

Lucy turned her head, and saw Munru holding a canon on his hand. No, he wasn't holding a canon on his hand. His hand had turned into canon, and a bright light came from it. A black projectile passed right over Lucy, and went straight ahead onto the enemy armada, blowing up their first line of soldiers.

Munru ran towards Lucy, and then took two steps in front of her. His canon now had changed onto a gatling gun, and, with a battle scream, he opened fire over the enemy army.

"Get behind me!" he told the diclonius as soon as she stood up.

He threw three fuming cannisters to the ground, that quickly surrounded them with a thick fog that covered their movements. His instructions had always been to take her and only her to safety, and he would be damned if he didn't.

The armada of the Diclonius Research Institute were taken by surprise from the start. They had known that they would need powerful weaponry against the diclonius Lucy, and the silpelit Nana if they had joined forces, but they were never prepared to fight another army, or a man with a canon and a gatling gun attached to his hand, and with a smoke curtain at the ready. They opened fire to the place where they had last seen them, with both the remaining bazookas and their own machine guns, just after the smoke had covered it all. But when the smoke finally cleared, they were gone.

\-------------------------------------

On the other side of the house, The Mobile Task Force of the Maz Hatters was engaged by another part of the armada of the Diclonius Research Institute. The armada had the house surrounded, but the SCP Foundation's Mobile Task Force, Beta-Seven: Maz Hatters, have no fear of battle, and were ready for it when necessary.

Three of the Maz Hatters took different positions behind the walls near the windows of the back of the house. From there, they assesed the outside terrain. Two of them launched two smoke canisters onto the backyard, and the fumes covered the visibility of the movements. One thing was to escape with a single person to protect when you are an overpowered cyborg, and another to have a whole group of four people to protect, one of them unconscious, a group of normal soldiers, and a lot of ammo. They would have to push through the enemy lines to get out. Each soldier got out from the house through the backdoor, and was covered by the smoke screen, they managed to reach different points with a clearer vision position and full coverage from bullets. But if any of them started to fire now, whomever did would give away his position, so they waited for the next move of his partners.

"Prepare to run." said Captain Carter to the VIPs he had to watch over, as he made sure that they would all be wearing a bullet proof vest, and a helmet, including the silpelit. The smoke curtain would not last for too long, so they would have to use it as best as possible. A couple of grenades well placed, would be a good distractor for the enemy. So he gave an order throught the intercom he had with his forces, and so it happened that an small explosion in the middle of the backyard, covered still by the smoke atracted some bullets towards the spot, after all, maybe one of the bazooka shooters had made a move over an spotted enemy. Then another explosion. And then a third one. With each explosion, the enemy soldiers revealed their positions, and the Maz Hatters could begin to take them out with far more accuracy and speed than what the enemy could react to.

In the middle of the starting chaos, Captain Carter took the black haired people and guided them through the backyard, away from the explosions and the bullets and onto the nearest exit throught the neighboring houses. They all had little alleys between them. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones knowing this entrance-escape routes, so he found himself just inches away from three soldiers from the enemy army. As soon as he noticed them, his reaction was immediate. He shot one with his hand pistol right beneath the helmet, and the bullet pierced through his skull and onto his brain. One dead enemy soldier. To the second one, Carter got his knife with his left hand and drove it straight throught the soldier's neck and pulled back, cutting his artery, and in a matter of seconds he was unconscious, and then would bleed out and die. The third soldier aimed his own gun to the Captain's face, but he deflected it with his right elbow. Still the bullet shot through his left cheek, and the pain distracted him for a while, allowing the enemy soldier to aim to his head... Another gun shot, and all went black for the enemy soldier, since Officer Lock had been just behind them, carrying Nana on his left shoulder, and with his hand gun on the right one. He managed to kill the third soldier and save the Captain's life.

"Move it!" he yelled at them all. "This is not a playground, now push through and escape!"

The rest of the task force was already shooting towards different spots around the house where the enemy army had revealed their positions, so now they only had the Captain Carter before them, and Officer Lock behind them.

Captain Carter was holding a hand to his face, just where the bullet had passed through, and he started running, faster than all of them, leaving them all behind. Officer Lock could not keep the pace with him since he had to carry the silpelit, and the rest of the family just couldn't leave Nana behind either. Soon the Captain Carter had dissapeared from sight.

"He ran away." Said Kouta out loud, realicing that now only Officer Lock was covering their backs. He got closer to the death soldiers in the alley, and took their guns from their bodies. He passed one to Yuka, another to Officer Lock since he would be far more proficient with it than any of them, even with Nana on his back, and he kept the last one for himself. He had never actually used one before, just like Yuka, but better to be prepared than sorry. He didn't gave one to Mayu, simply because he thought that she was just too little to handle one. Mayu on the other hand, felt insulted by this. She was young, but she now knew that if you can't defend yourself, the world would crush you.

They reached an exit that went out towards the street. Officer Lock had taken the front position to ensure the safety of the group. And as soon as he sticked his head out, he noticed another bazooka shooter standing guard, and a couple extra soldiers near him, waiting for the slightest signal to attack. He placed Nana on the ground, and ordered the rest of them to stay behind. He would take down the bazooka shooter first, then the rest would be easier to deal with. He raised his machine gun, prepared to fire, and... he felt somebody pushing him slightly, and heard a pained grunt. He turned his head and noticed that Mayu had tried to reach for the unconscious silpelit to pull her away, but instead she had fallen to the ground, and the noise caused two extra effects, one, it distracted officer Lock from his aim, and two, it alerted the enemy soldiers to their position.

Officer Lock panicked and started shooting in the general direction of the soldiers, and managed to gun down one of them, but the bazooka shooter aimed his weapon to their location. He had to protect the VIPs, the future of humanity depended on it. He stepped out, and aimed his gun again. He aimed and shot. The bullet went flying, but it was too late... the bazooka had been shot almost at the same instant, so, even when the enemy soldier fell down, the rocket came flying, hitting officer Lock right on the chest. His body was torn apart instantly, and his torso fell to the ground. He managed to take one last look at the group of VIPs, and saw that they were all covered in his blood, but still in a single piece. His last thought went to his own children, they would live in a world without the diclonius threat, and he had made his best to make sure of that.

The rest of them saw in shock how his stare went blank, and he looked at nothing anymore. But the shock was cut short, since the last soldier came running towards their location. Kouta and Yuka, in a fit of fear and rage aimed their guns towards the soldier, and unloaded the whole magazines on him. Most of the shots were either lost on the bullet proof vest or complete misses, but several of them hitted him on lethal spots, including the neck and one through the left eye. It's hard to tell who was the one that actually killed him, since they both really sucked at aiming.

They heard footsteps getting closer... two more soldiers appeared from the street again, and aimed their machine guns at them. But as soon as they lifted their weapons, an enormous car crashed against them and crushed them under it's wheels. The door opened, and the bloodyed face of Captain Carter said "Geth Insshide."

Kouta picked up the unconscious Nana, and took her in, while Yuka pushed a still-shocked Mayu inside too.

Captain Carter stepped on the gas, and drove away towards the safe location. And from the rearview mirror, he saw Jack Bright aiming his machinegun from a corner, and leading the last remaining soldiers of the Maz Hatters to hold back any attempt of the Diclonius Research Institute to follow them.


	14. Harmless? You don't want that.

Flying through the air was something Lucy usually did when she impulsed herself with her vectors. But this was the first time that she flew through the air carried on the arms of another person.

Munru had a special air-pressure jetpack, that allowed him to get out of difficult situations. Unfortunately, the jetpack only lasted a couple of minutes, so a fast landing was necessary, and the place he found the most convenient was the rooftop of a large building, that was away from the battle field they had just fled.

"Let go of me, you moron!" she said, punching him on the chest repeatedly.

Munru placed her on the ground without a word.

"We have to go back!" said Lucy. Wanting to protect her family was the only thing on her mind. What if something happened to them, if she wasn't there to protect them from the other army?

"My orders are to keep YOU under protection." answered Munru "The rest of your family is under the protection of the Foundation."

Lucy gave him an angry and dirty look. "If you won't take me there I will go myself!" she said getting ready to jump from the building and run down towards her former house.

"And what will you do then?" he asked "I noticed that you tried to attack the soldiers, but even when you used your... 'vectors' was their name? you didn't harm a single one of them. Why?"

Lucy remained silent. She didn't have an answer. Why hadn't she?

"I might have a hipothesis that could explain that behaviour." continued Munru. "But, I believe its best to test it, before I explain it to you." He stood aside her, and told her. "If you want to go back to the battlefied, all you need to do is get through me."

Lucy looked back at the man, and said "What do you mean?"

"Attack me." he ordered.

Lucy flinched back... did he wanted to die? was this a trap? Did he have a similar gadget as the coat of many arms that Bright had used against her?

"What are you trying to do?" he asked him "Delaying me? Getting an excuse to attack me?"

Munru let a dissapointed sigh out of his mouth, and said "I promise that I will not try to hurt you back, even if you do manage to harm me. I have nothing to fear from you, because of the fact that I am a cyborg, and all my memories are continuosly backed up in a server of the Foundation, so if my body gets destroyed, I can always be transported towards another." Munru gazed at her, and decided to take the simplest initiative. He lifted his left arm in the air, and said "Try to cut off my arm. It can be easily replaced."

"Are you sure of what you are asking?" said Lucy.

"Completely." said Munru again.

Lucy launched her vectors against Munru's arm... and the vectors stopped midway. She couldn't do it.

"Strange." he said. "Were you actually trying to harm me?"

Lucy, still in shock, just said "Yes."

"Now try to hit that rock over there." Lucy noticed a big piece of concrete shaped like the frame of a swing that had been taken down because of safety reasons.

Lucy managed to break the entirety of the frame in a single go with her vectors.

"Now try it again on my arm." He said doing the same as before.

Lucy gazed at the man before her. He had tricked her in the past to enter a car with the sole purpose of coersing her. He took her away from the family she was supposed to protect. She threw her vectors against him once more... 'He deserves to die' said the voice of the virus in her head. And again she stopped herself middle way, barely touching his arm. She did not want to listen to that voice.

"Interesting." said Munru. "This seems to confirm my hipothesis."

"Care to explain?" she said exasperated

"You have lost your killing intent."

"What?" she asked

"Every warrior must develop a killing intent if he will confront an enemy. You used to have it. I felt it just yesterday. But now something happened to you. You don't want to kill anymore."

Lucy thought about how much she was fighting the voice of the virus, and how she just wanted to stop killing people altogether.

"What does that mean?" she said still trying to understand the situation she was in.

"It means that you are trying to become harmless, because you have confused being harmless with being good."

"W-what?"

"You do not want to kill anymore, because you have realized the harm that killing people causes. So you see the act of killing itself as something bad. As a result you think that if you simply stop yourself from killing, then you will automatically be a good person. By being harmless to others, you are trying to be good. But that is a mistake."

The words coming from Munru were quite confusing. So she tried to put his ideas in her words to try to understand them.

"You mean to tell me, that I am not being a good person just because I don't kill?"

"Correct. You didn't kill anyone back in the battlefield today." he told her "How did that turn out for you? You recieved a full bazooka blast straight in the chest. If your vectors would not have been active, you would have died. If I wouldn't have taken you out of there, you could have been captured or killed. That does not make you a good person."

"Why? Why is it not killing not being good?"

"Rabbits." he said, making even less sense than before.

"Rabbits!?" she said completely confused.

"Rabbits cannot kill anything, they are harmless. They run away from the creatures that can kill them. They hide from the wolfs and the hawks that are always chasing them to eat them. Yet they cannot do anything to fight back if they are captured. Does that make them good creatures? Do you think that if any of them had the chance to kill all the wolfs and all the hawks in the world, would they do it?"

Lucy was shocked by that question. Does a rabbit want to kill all wolfs but is simply unable?

"I... I don't know..." she thought about how she had wanted to kill all humans when she had felt the hatred towards them. She had wanted to kill the kids that harrassed her for a very long time before her vectors had manifested. She used to be a rabbit. And when she gained the power to kill those she percieved as wolfs and hawks, she had wanted to kill them all. "Maybe... Maybe they would if they could."

"Then rabbits are not good, only harmless. And maybe they rationalize their own weakness by labeling the creatures that feed off from them as 'evil', simply because its easy to masquerade their weakness as nobility. Many people do this too."

Lucy remained silent, trying to process the idea that Munru was trying to convey, so she let him continue.

"Now think about a dog. It has fangs, and claws. If he is ever attacked by another creature, it will use those fangs and claws to defend itself. He is not harmless. And yet, many people have dogs near them all the time. Because a dog chooses not to attack his master, and his friends. A dog chooses to be kind. A dog chooses to be merciful. A dog chooses to be good. His choice might be unconscious, but still he will not harm another just for fun or vengeance. Only hunts to survive, or to defend himself or one of his own. The difference between being harmless and being good, lies in the choice of not harming other, not because you can't, but because you don't want to. Because the other has not given you a reason to do so. You must be a monster that has tamed itself, only then, can you truly choose to be good."

Lucy's eyes widened. She was a monster already. She was trying to control her anger and agression. And she was trying to quiet down the murderous voice inside her. What were those actions if not an attempt at trying to tame the beast inside her?

"You couldn't harm anyone in the battlefield, because you have confused your desire to be good with a desire to be harmless. That is why you couldn't harm me. If you go back there in the mental state that you are now, you will only get yourself killed, or even worst, your family will get killed because of your impulsive actions. Stay with me for today, and I will take you to the location where the Foundation will take your family. And perhaps later on, I could teach you to be in better control of your anger, so that instead of fearing it, you learn to use it in your favor. And also, when to be calmed and merciful."

Lucy lowered her head. He was right. If she goes back now... she would only mess things up, simply because she would not be able to defend herself.

"Do you think they will be alright?" asked Lucy.

"I have known the tactics of the Foundation, and I have known doctor Jack Bright for long enough as to be sure that, when they have an objective, they do not stop or back down until they reach it. That is one of the reasons why me and my Samsara brothers work with them. And right now, their objective is to keep you and your family alive. They don't do it for any of you, but for themselves. But what does that matter if it ends up being convenient for you too?"

Lucy felt a little bit relieved, but she would not be entirely calmed until she would see them safe and sound.

"Take me there then. Take me to my family."

"My pleasure." said Munru as he offered his arm so the girl would take it between her hands and they would walk down the building together. And maybe he would help her regain her warrior spirit later on, and help her tame the monster she once was.


	15. Body Snatcher

Captain Carter was usually a decent driver. But having half your face torn open by a bullet, and having to escape from a battlefield can distract anyone. He had managed to escape throught the traffick by getting over the edge of the road a couple of times. At one point he made everyone come out of the car, and get into another, just to ensure that they would not be followed. The second car however, he had to steal it (exactly like he had done with the first one). That car would also be reported as missing later on, but the Foundation would take care of the problem.

The secure location to which he took the VIP family was an abandoned house on the outside of the city. On the outside it looked like an old cabin made of dry wood. On the inside it also looked like an old cabin made of wood, and that had been cleaned no more than a week ago. It had been an abandoned house that nobody had claimed after the last owners had died, and the Foundation had purchased as a bargain with the city bank, as soon as they had heard about a possible anomaly in the area.

All of them went inside, guarded by Captain Carter. They sat down around a table in the center of the first room. It looked like a living room, but it was so old and it seemed more like an abandoned warehouse with random things spurred all over the place.

"Are we going to just wait here, or something?" asked Kouta to Captain Carter. He just nodded.

"Firsht Aith Kith." he said. "Findh Wan" he said.

Since none of them had anything better to do, they started wandering the house, looking for such a thing as a medical kit. Eventually, Yuka found one, that seemed to be very old. Most of the things were useless, because they seemed too old or expired. Except for the alcohol bottle, and Kouta had found a sewing kit with needles and threads, which captain Carter deeped into the alcohol, and after cleaning his own wound with a direct throw on his face that burned like hell, he used it all in front of a mirror to sew the flesh of his face. He then ripped a piece of his own shirt, deeped it into the alcohol again, and covered his wound in an improvised patch. He didn't make too bad of a job, but still he would wish that he were closer to a hospital to get properly attended. Still, he had the duty to watch over the VIPs, and keep the aslept SCP in proper custody.

"Where is Officer Lock?" He asked to them, seeing that he was no longer with them.

Kouta broke the bad news to him "He died. Recieved a full bazooka explosion in the chest trying to protect us."

Captain Carter's face turned terribly somber. "I have been in this job long enough as to know that dead is part of the usual risks in almost every mission. It still makes it no less terrible to lose a friend in battle." He was obviously trying to hold back his sadness and anger. "If I would have done a better job as leader of the team, maybe he would still be alive."

"You did your job." Said Kouta "You kept us safe. You got us out."

"It's not enough." Kept saying Carter. "I should have been better. I should be BETTER!!!" He started punching the mirror in front of him, and broked it into pieces, and then he kept on smashing the pieces. Then he suddenly stopped and started sobbing. The rest of them saw how he broke down, and they wanted to say something, but they couldn't, since they had no actual trust with this man. However, just as suddenly as his emotional breakdown started, he stopped, cleaned his eyes, and spoke.

"My apologies. It is not usual for me to break down like that."

"It's no problem." said Yuka "You must be under a lot of pressure."

Nobody noticed it, but Mayu was staring at her shoes, ashamed and scared. She had tried to move Nana, and that had made Officer Lock lose his concentration. Had it been her fault? Would he still be alive if she wouldn't have been so reckless? And what if they found out? Would they punish her for it? And how would they punish her?

A motorcycle parked outside, and two people with helmets moved towards the entrance. As they saw a car parked outside, they figured that other people were inside already.

One of them removed the helmet to show his face, and called on the door. He prepared his gatling gun in case someone undesirable was inside.

"An excelent day today, is it not?" Asked Carter from the inside.

"Only for those that carry the light." Answered Munru.

"And those who duel in the darkness." Finished the phrase Carter. One of the many passcodes of the Foundation.

Carter opened the door, and let Munru come inside, alongside his partner, that took out her helmet when they were inside and showed her pink hair and horns.

"Lucy!" said the entire family almost at unison when she showed her face, and immediately went over to greet her.

"You are all safe!" she said and left out a relieved breath as she greeted them too.

Munru looked inside the cabin. It wasn't a luxury, but it wasn't too bad either. The entire house was far from most civilization, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad place to practice and get some training, if he had the proper equipment.

Over an hour passed, during which Kouta had found a refrigerator filled with food for an entire squadron, so he and Yuka had decided to make something to eat for everyone, after all they had left the house without even breakfast, since Bright had woke them up and gave them the bad news, and then the battle had started.

The food was tasty, and eased their minds, reminding them that sometimes the small things are what makes life worth living. Munru had accepted the offer out of politeness, he did not really need to eat anything since he had his own energy generator, but he always enjoyed the funny tastes in his mouth.

Soon after, a black armored truck parked outside the cabin. And from the back of the truck, seven people with the Foundation's uniform came outside, and dragged another three people with the uniform of the Diclonius Research Institute's armada as prisoners, blindfolded and tied. One of the Foundation guards went towards the front door, and knocked on it.

Munru went to answer the call "Sorry, we are closed for the day." said Munru.

"Even to the friendliest 999?" said the voice from outside.

"I have told you 682 times to go jump off a bridge and die." he opened the door and let the last of the Maz Hatters enter with the captured soldiers.

Captain Carter inspected his team. The original group had over twenty agents, including the snipers and the guards at the front line, now there were no more than seven. And he also noticed that someone else was missing "Where is Doctor Bright?" he asked them.

The soldiers looked at each other, almost trying to put into words exactly what had happened, but they were still trying to actually understand it. They had been there and they couldn't believe it themselves. Until one of them spoke.

"Doctor Jack Bright joined the forces at the front, when we saw an smoke curtain raising, and we heard the explosions trying to hit something inside of it, but I suppose they were all misses, when out of nowhere Bright jumped out and started running to the other side of the street before the curtain was completely dissipated. For a second I thought he was running from the battle, but then the crazy bastard came back with a freaking flamethrower. Nobody knows where he had that thing hidden. I think I saw him torch at least three guys with it. He was laughing while he did that."

"I think I saw him steal one of the rocket launchers at some point." said another soldier. "He had shot the soldier in the face with his machinegun and then took it from him. He then aimed it at another group of bazooka soldiers, but he didn't aim it at them but to the damned rocket supply. The explosion was so damn big that I stayed deaf for at least ten minutes. And I was like a hundred meters away. I think he destroyed at least one half of two nearby houses."

"He also started to scream that we had to protect the house and the diclonius inside," continued a third soldier "but all of you had already left that place. So I figured that he was just trying to make the enemy waste time. But then he actually made us move inside. I thought he had gone completely crazy, since we would have been trapped in there, but when the majority of what was left of the enemy army had crossed into the first hallway, he picked up a belt full with grenades, ripped out a couple of the pins and I think he screamed something like 'Leeroy Jenkins' and went straight through the enemy armada shooting his machinegun at them, and when he reached the middle of the group, the explosion took down amost all of them. His body died at it, but then the battle was practically over. We managed to find these three alive." He said signaling the prisoners. "But they were either far from the center of the explosion, or passed out on the backyard, two of them were in the backyard to be precise."

Lucy, that was hearing all of that, realised that Bright had just been manipulating her in the white void. He didn't gave a rat's ass about peace, or love, or the life of nobody. He enjoyed killing as much as the most blood thirsty diclonius. She was glad he was dead. At least now he was not going to spit any more lies to her.

Captain Carter took a deep breath, and said, "Very well. Interrogate them." as he signaled the prisoner soldiers.

"We already did." said a fourth soldier of the Foundation. "We know where Arakawa is. She is being held inside the same facility where most of the diclonii are, on a island not far from the the city's beach."

"Do you know their clearances?" continued Carter.

"These two are brigadiers. The third one is a Captain." He said. "His insignia says his name is Botros."

"Good enough. Untie him, and remove the blindfold from him." said Carter, and then he took out the metallic box that Bright had given him. He put on a very thick pair of gloves and picked up the silver chain with the medallion carefully with them. He then saw the man and noticed that he had brown eyes, dark skin, and short straight hair. He immediately told him "Any last words you would like to say, sir?"

"Go fuck yourselfs." said Captain Botros to the enemy forces that had captured him and killed the rest of his team.

"Nice. Straight to the point." said Carter "Good night sir." And he let the chain and the medallion fall over his head.

Maybe the man felt a brief electrical shock. Or maybe he felt nothing at all. He closed his eyes, and then his eyes were opened again.

The man called Captain Botros straightened his back and said "Damn... what the hell is it with this body? I'm aching everywhere. Was I hit by a train or something?" he said as he looked at his arms and legs, and also his chest and touched his face with his hands.

"That one is one of the survivors of the battle against iteration 18. Iteration 18 died in battle. Welcome to the team iteration 19." Finished Captain Carter.

The man stood up and said "Iteration 18 is dead. Long live iteration 19." he let out a laughter, and then looked at the VIP group. "Ah, I see you managed to keep them all safe and sound. Congratulations Captain Carter, when we go back to the Foundation, I will speak highly about you and your team. Did you bring the uniforms of the fallen enemy soldiers?"

"Yes. But not many." said one of the soldiers "Most of them were torn open, burnt or entirely useless. But maybe we can disguise a small team with what we have."

"Excellent. We just need a first opening point and then we can breach the entrance from the inside."

"What should we do with them?" said Carter looking at the other soldier prisoners.

"The Foundation is always in need of new D-class personel. A couple of your men should take them there." Two soldiers of the Maz Hatters led the two prisoner soldiers into the car that Carter had stolen, and drove away.

What was going on? They said he was an enemy soldier just a second ago. Why was he talking about going back to the Foundation? How did he know them? And why were they following his orders?

"Excuse, me." Said Kouta not being able to hold back his curiosity. "Who are you exactly?"

The man came closer to them. With a smile that went on for miles...

"I have already told you. Destroy one of my bodies and I will be able to come back in another one. This little thing in my neck is SCP-963, the medallion of immortality. It holds a copy of my memories and personality. And when any higher animal comes into contact with it, his memories and personality are instantaneously deleted and replaced with my own."

A chilling sensation went down the spine of every single member of Kouta's family, the instant that the creepy realization hit them.

"I am Jack Bright."

  
  



	16. Forty Eight Hours

It was disturbing for Kouta's family to see the body of a man that they had never seen before acting in the exact same manner as someone that they already knew, even if they did not liked him.

Just out of curiosity he had asked the soldiers exactly what had happened to his previous body, and his reaction was exactly what everyone would have expected. He laughed his ass off.

"Seriously? 'Leeroy Jenkins'? Those were my last words?" He let out another fit of laughter "I'm hilarious even when I'm about to die. But enough entertainment, we have a damsel in distress to rescue, a cure to be made, and no time to waste. Captain Carter, since we no longer have the full force of the Maz Hatters, we will have to call for the aid of another Task Force. The Mole Rats should be good enough, since they are used to Raids inside enclosed buildings, and underground structures. Call the Foundation and ask them to be prepared at their earliest convenience."

"Right away, sir." Responded Carter.

"Lieutenant Munru." Called out Bright.

"Master Bright." He answered.

"This raid will requiere the full force of your Samsara brothers as well, since there will probably be several instances of diclonii with similar capabilities as Lucy and Nana. Since your team is among the best suited to go on par against violent SCPs, it would be most helpful if you could convince them to join us in this endeavor."

"I will call them sir, but you know that all the Samsaras are warriors at heart. And we will only answer to great challenges that truly call for great measures."

"Good. Tell them that they will be facing against a highly armed militia that is guarding over sixty violent, highly destructive, and very agressive SCPs armed with telekinetical superpowers at a shortrange in an eclosed environment. That should be a challenge even for the lot of you."

Munru let out an amused laughter "It truly sounds as a very attractive proposal."

"Excellent. We will be awaiting for their response." Bright then turned his head towards Lucy.

"Miss Lucy." he called her, and she turned her head towards him. "The raid at the facility we are planning might require comminucating with other Diclonii, similar to yourself. And according to some of the information that Arakawa had provided us, other diclonius are less likely to attack eachother than they are to humans. So it will be among our best interests that you be joining us in this raid, as a negotiator of sorts. Perhaps the other diclonii will be more willing to listen to you."

"Master Bright, I believe that to be a poor decision." said captain Carter.

"Why would that be?" said Bright.

"Because if she is killed in action, or if she gets captured by the Diclonius Research Institute, we would be left without the source of the original virus."

"That would be the case, if I wouldn't have sent the blood sample she gave me last time into the SCP Foundation to be cloned and reproduced with SCP-038: The Everything Tree."

"You did that?" asked Carter amazed.

"Of course I did. Apparently, the reproduction of the original virus was a complete success. We already made the mistake of placing our bets on her cooperation in order to have access to the original source of the virus, and then she escaped. We are not going to make the same mistake twice."

Lucy was listening to all of this. She had been played by this man.

"You. YOU!!!" she narrowed her eyes with pure anger and disgust.

"Me. ME!!!" Said Bright amused and letting out a laughter.

Lucy felt her blood boiling and said "But now that you have access to the virus that resides within me, then that means..."

"That you are now entirely disposable." Finished Bright with his usual malicious grin.

Lucy was completely in shock. At any point now, they could shoot her and every other person in her family. She no longer had any negotiation power with the Foundation. She was no longer required. Why was she still breathing, then?

"So you are just going to kill me, then."

"Of course not." said Bright. "You might still be useful. You have your vectors. You are a diclonius. If we have to fight other diclonius then it would be far easier having someone like you on our side. In fact, I was about to propose something to the lot of you. Since your house must have been partially destroyed in the battle of yesterday, the Foundation would be most grateful to all of you if you would help us in the completion of the containment of this threat. And as such, we would be more than glad to rebuild the house you inhabited. But we will need your full cooperation from now on. This also includes the silpelit sleeping next to us."

"Nana?" said Kouta, with a spark of hope lighting his eyes. "You are going to wake up Nana? Finally?"

"Maybe. But she will have to aid in the raid too. She will be a second negotiator with other diclonii. And she must not attack Foundation members. Exactly the same as Lucy."

Lucy was wondering if this was actually the best thing for them... The Foundation have proved to be ruthless. But they were not evil just for the sake of it. Maybe they were like Doctor Kurama in that regard. Not entirely evil, but certainly not naive or foolish.

"Master Bright, there is something you need to know." said Munru.

In her head, Lucy was just repeating to herself 'Please don't tell him. Please don't tell him. Please don't tell him...'

"Lucy has lost the ability to use her vectors as weapons." Finished Munru.

'Damn it!!!' Lucy cursed inside her head.

Bright gazed at her with a serious look. "Is that true?" he asked. "You cannot use your vectors anymore?"

Lucy lowered her head. "I can use them. Just not to kill anyone. Not anymore."

"How the hell did that happen?"

"I believe its a psychological problem, Master Bright." said Munru. "Her vectors and skills at controlling them seem to be entirely unaltered."

"Well, I'll be damned. If you would have lost your ability to kill earlier on, we would have seen it as an advantage. But now you are just not as useful."

"Master Bright, I believe that I could take care of that problem." said Munru again. "If you will allow me, I would gladly start training Miss Lucy in order to prepare for the raid. Since it is not a problem of skill, but rather a mental state, it could be done with relative ease."

"Interesting." said Bright while passing his hand through his chin repeatedly. "Very interesting. A diclonius under training of a cyborg. That will be a story to tell your grandchildren." He thought about it for a while. "Very well Lieutenant Munru, you have my permission to train this diclonius however you see fit. But we do not have time to waste, since Arakawa's life is in jeopardy, we cannot delay action a minute more than what is absolutely required. If everything goes right, the preparations of the Mobile Task Forces at the Foundation will not take more than two days. So you have exactly forty eight hours to have any type of progress. Also, it will be most useful if you could also train the silpelit too. After all, if you all cooperate as a team, she might become more psychologicaly inclined to help our cause."

"But sir," said Carter concerned. "We don't have the requiered equipment for training, or amunitions of any kind here."

"Mister Carter, you are underestimating the Foundation." Bright moved towards a painting hanging in the wall, removed the painting, and removed a false panel behind it, that was hiding a number pad behind it. Bright pressed a long sequence of numbers, and a trap door opened to a secret basement. And when they went down the trap door, they saw that the basement was filled with weaponry, battle garments, and even specialized prison cells, in case they would need to lock up humanoid SCPs.

Everybody was impressed. Even Lucy. She might not like neither Bright, nor the Foundation, but they had been prepared for many eventualities. But then again...

"Are you going to lock us in those cells?" asked Lucy to Bright.

"Not unless I really have to. But if you are not able to kill anyone, and don't seem to be willing to infect anyone, then I see absolutely no reason to lock you up. Also, I have already given my word of treating your family as guests of the Foundation."

Lucy let out a reliefed sigh. "Fine. When will we begin training?"

"I suggest that you begin immediately." said Bright. "Nana might take a while to fully wake up, but since she has not gone any traumatic event that rendered her unable to kill with her vectors, then you should begin to work on your problem as soon as possible."

Lucy nodded, and Munru guided her outside of the basement, but only after he had gathered enough training equipment to begin. Fourty Eight hours they had before the raid, and they better have to make it count.


	17. Training partner.

As Munru and Lucy walked outside, Jack Bright injected Nana with a chemical that would counteract the anesthesia that kept her aslept. The chemical itself would require a time to act, but it should not be too long. Bright would make sure that her family would be around when she wakes up, in order to minimize the possibility that she would turn violent.

Meanwhile, Munru started placing several targets on the outside of the cabin. He had to ensure that Lucy would be able to control her agression. But he had to feed her agression in the first place.

"I want to see how well you control your vectors." he told her. "Hit all of those red circles with them."

In the blink of an eye, they were pulverized.

"A good start. Now I will start throwing these in the air and you will hit them."

One by one all the targets shot were all crashed.

"Speeding up." said Munru, as he started throwing many more of them onto the air, and they still kept being broken.

Then, Munru stopped, and placed the round targets inside a cabin that he opened in his arm. Then the plates started flying through the sky from Munru's arm-canon.

Lucy tried to keep up with the speed at which the targets were flying. Her vectors started going after as many of them as she could, but even at her best, she missed several of them.

"Time for phase 2." said Munru. And he started slowly lowering his canon. At first, Lucy didn't notice much of a difference, that is until she saw the first round target flying towards her head.

She instinctively broke the target coming towards her, then came another, and then another, and then six more.

"What are you doing?" she said.

"If you can't stop the targets coming towards you," answered Munru "how do you expect to stop the bullets from your enemies?!"

Lucy covered her face and her body with her vectors.

"Stop it!"

"In the battlefield, the enemy does not stop! You either fend off, or you get killed!"

There was a sudden electical noise, and the targets started coming out on fire.

"Your only way out of this situation, is to push through. You will have to attack, or you will get burned."

Munru started aiming the fiery targets to Lucy's feet. Then back at her face. Then to her feet again, repeating this change at random intervals.

The light of the fire blinded her, so at a certain point, she couldn't see the change of aiming at her feet, so she missed the chance to cover herself. The hit was painful, but not as painful as the burning sensation that came alongside it. The hit also made her lose her balance, so she fell face first onto the ground. Immediately, the fiery shots stopped.

"Ouch" she let out a pained grunt. She felt the anger building inside her.

'Is this what you are going to do the next time that someone tries to hurt you?' She heard the voice of the virus mocking her. 'You are pathetic. Without me, you are going to fail. You are going to get killed. And anybody that has even dared to put their trust in you is going to die, and it's going to be your fault.'

"Shut the hell up." she whispered back at it.

'Give in, Lucy. You know it's the only way. Only when you listen to me you are strong. You are weak without me.'

"I told you to shut up." she kept on whispering and holding her head.

"I am dissapointed in you, Lucy" said Munru. "You are still holding back. Why?"

"I can feel the anger taking over me." answered Lucy. "And I can't let it take over. Not again. Maybe next time I will lose myself to it, and I fear that I won't be able to stop my rage."

"Make your anger work for you, Lucy. You are the one controlling your body. Not your anger. Do not fear it. Accept it as a part of you." Munru extended his arm, and helped Lucy get over her feet. "Lets try it again."

The process repeated. Munru would start firing at Lucy, and from time to time, she got blown down onto the ground...

\-------------------------

Nana opened her eyes. And as soon as she did, Mayu's smiling face, and her sweet voice greeted her.

"Wakey wakey, Nana deary." she told her, and passed her hand through her forehead and caressed her hair.

"Mayu? wha-? what happened?" Nana looked around and didn't recognize the place, it was a bedroom she had never seen before. "where are we?"

"It's a long story. You were aslept for the most part."

"At last you woked up." said Yuka's voice from a chair with a relieved sigh.

"Miss Yuka? You are here too."

"We all are, Nana." said Kouta from the other side of the bed, and immediately embraced her.

"Does this mean we got away?" she asked them "Are we safe?"

They all lowered their heads.

"Not exactly." said Kouta... "We are together, and we are not under any immediate danger. But we didn't got away. We were captured by the guards again."

Nana, then noticed that someone more was missing...

"Where is Miss Lucy?"

Her question was left in the air, since a man with dark skin and brown eyes entered the room.

"Ah. I see that you have raised already. Welcome back." said the man.

"Ah... who are you? I don't think we have met before..."

"Well... you have... Just that I looked differently before." he turned his head to look at Kouta. "Have you explained to her our arrangement?"

"No." he answered.

"Explain it to her, and when she is ready, send her out to meet with Lucy and Lieutenant Munru. She also needs to practice."

"So Lucy is here too." said Nana with sorrow. "Then that means that we are all prisoners."

"Not exactly." said the man. "You are guests here. We have been treating you and your family as such. I will let your family tell you the whole story. Now, if you'll all excuse me." and the man walked away.

"Who was that guy?" asked Nana.

"That was Jack Bright." Yuka told her.

"Whaaattt???"

\-------------------------------

Munru had been trying different methods to make Lucy get angry enough as to retaliate his attacks. But she kept on resisting, and after every try, she fell to the ground.

"Focus, Lucy. If you don't retaliate, you will only keep being blown down." said Munru again after over a dozen failures.

"What's going on?" said a voice coming from the cabin.

Lucy and Munru turned their heads, and saw Nana coming out and move towards them.

"Nana!" yelled Lucy and went running towards her, and embraced her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, I suppose." she answered "I just feel a bit disoriented. Mister Kouta and another man, that apparently is Jack Bright, told me to come out here and talk to you. They told me that apparently we have to cooperate with attacking the Institute where we were kept captive."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Nana." said Lucy. "I will try to convince Bright to let you choose."

"No." said Nana back to Lucy. "I want to attack that place. I hate it. The only reason why I never tried to destroy everything in there is because I didn't know that there could be another life beyond it, and because my dad was always with me. But after knowing how wonderous life can actually be, I can't stand the idea of that place still existing." A type of fury came out through Nana's voice, different to any tone that Lucy had heard her use before.

"That is the killing intent of a proper warrior." said Munru, noticing Nana's pure rage. "But her agression is not uncontrolled. It's focused on that which she considers to be wrong with the world." she was trying to make Lucy notice this as the point of all the training they still had ahead of them. "Little girl, tell me your name."

"My name is Nana. I used to be the prisoner number seven at that Institute, and that is what my name means." she answered.

"My name is Munru. It will be an honor for me to train you, if you are willing to get through the effort." Munru seemed to be almost proud of the offer he was giving her.

"Will miss Lucy train with me too?" she asked.

"It would be most desirable that it be so." said Munru. "Miss Lucy has a lot to learn, and I believe that she could learn from you one or two lessons. And as for Lucy, she is holding back, so perhaps in the end you will end up learning from her too, once she unleashes her potential." Munru turned to look at Lucy, and told her "What do you say, Miss Lucy? Are you willing to train alongside Miss Nana?"

Something felt wrong. Nana shouldn't want to be violent. She should be a good girl. Was the voice of the virus influencing her? And if Nana lost control?

"I will only accept on one condition." said Lucy. "Nana. I don't want you to become a monster like I was. If we train together, promise me that you will be a better person than me. Promise me that you won't hurt people just because. I did that mistake, and it was the worst thing I could have done, not only to them, but to myself."

"Miss Lucy..." Nana's voice was filled with compassion for her. "I don't want to hurt people randomly. I don't want to hurt anyone in particular either. But there are others like us trapped in that place. We can't just let them suffer, and if we do nothing, then they will still be tortured, and it feels wrong to just stay still knowing that."

That phrase got way too close to home. If there would have been just someone willing to help the diclonii trapped in there, and showed them what life could be like, maybe they would not have been so murderous. Maybe if there would have been somebody that told them that the voice in their head should not be trusted, maybe they would have had a better chance to have a normal life. What would have happened if Lucy would have known that from the beginning? And what would happen if she did nothing, and just let the voice of the virus influence them? What would happen if she let them be tortured to the point where they actually feel justified in their hatred towards humans?

Lucy understood then, that Jack Bright was trying to stop a war that was being created inside that place, by making the diclonii hate on humans, and feeding the virus with that hatred. How cruel and bastardic would be the ones in charge of such operation. And for the evil ones to triumph, the inaction of the good ones was enough.

"It would be wrong, indeed." is everything Lucy could say. "We must help them. It's the only way."

Munru let out an amused laugh, and said. "Not even five minutes together and you two have already learned something from the other. This may be fun yet." Munru turned to Nana and told her. "Since you are the newly arrived, it is recommended to start the training with you, and see where you are in your skills. As for you, miss Lucy, take a rest, we will continue later on."


	18. Sister

Munru had given Nana a similar starting test, and although she didn't have the same proficiency as Lucy with her vectors, she had shown to be far more prone to give back an attack than Lucy at the moment. Munru had to get back several steps once she started throwing her vectors in his direction. But since this was just training, her attacks didn't seem to be all that dangerous. Nana had a good control of how far she took the attack, without being too destructive. Lucy was looking at her and started feeling jealous.

"Well done, Nana." said Munru, the instant that she had thrown her vectors to the spot where he was standing just a second ago. "At this rate, you will be a valuable asset in any battle in no time, and an enemy to be careful of."

Nana smiled at that, and said "Thank you. But I hope I really don't have to harm anyone."

"Any true warrior wishes for the same, but we also know that in this world, it is a necessity to be able to harm another when it becomes a threat to you." He gave a brief look at Lucy, who was getting exasperated at the whole situation, and then he continued. "Miss Nana, I believe that you have earned yourself a brief recess. Miss Lucy, please stand up and prepare to continue."

Lucy started feeling more and more uncomfortable as time passed. It wasn't just that she didn't want to harm others, but that she couldn't give in to her own agression even an inch. What if the virus took advantage of it? And if she couldn't stop herself?

"I'm afraid that the strategy taken so far has proven to be ineffective with you." said Munru with a very monotonous voice that somehow sounded threatening "So I have decided to take a more direct approach."

The metallic armor surrounding Munru started shifting, and what seemed as propelling rockets appeared on his back.

"I will now charge against you, and it will be your duty to stop me. If you cannot, I will crash onto you. Ready. Set. Go."

The rockets on his back tuner on, and he started running towards her at the same time, picking up an incredible speed in an extremely low amount of time. Lucy managed to get covered but just by a fraction of a second, and then she felt as if she would have been crashed by a truck, and immediately was rolling on the ground.

"Not good enough." said Munru. "Get up, and we'll try it again."

Lucy got up, and said "You got lucky, the next time, won't be so..." and she was hit by Munru again, and started rolling on the floor once more.

"You lost your concentration. Focus on the task at hand. Lets go again."

Lucy stood up once more, and this time, she clawed one of her vectors into the ground as an anchor, covered partially her head and chest with a second one, and prepared his other two to hold Munru back.

Munru charged again, and finally felt Lucy's vectors pushing up against him. And as soon as he did, he noticed that Lucy was being reluctant with using her full strenght. So, being the trained soldier he was, he pressed on, and turned his propeller rockets to an even higher level, and then another level higher, and then another one... Lucy's vectors began to bend, she couldn't keep her strenght up while she resisted her own anger. And eventually, her vectors were defeated, and once more she fell to the ground.

"That was better." said Munru. "Still, not good enough." He turned his head towards the silpelit and said. "Miss Nana, I will attempt the same exercise with you."

Nana was nervous. She had seen what Munru had done with Lucy, and although she had supposedly done better than Lucy in the first training exercise, this one seemed a far more direct physicaly attack, so she wasn't sure if she could actually manage it.

Munru prepared his propellers, and started moving towards Nana at a high speed. Nana felt the hit directly over her vectors around her body, and she also rolled over the floor. To some extent, Lucy felt relieved that Nana had failed at her first attempt, and then she felt guilty for the exact same reason.

"Stand up..." Munru told Nana "We only have two days, and if you two spend all day laying on the ground, then we won't have done enough in time to confront the Diclonius Research Institute, or any other diclonius that could breach their containment and attack."

Nana stood up, took a deep breath and said "I'm ready."

Munru repeated the process. Accelerated towards Nana, and when he was close enough, he felt Nana's vectors pushing back. His propellers got stronger, until the point where Nana's vectors started to bend backwards... until... She pushed him to the side, and diverted his path.

Munru turned over again and went straight ahead once more. Nana kept on pushing him sideways to avert his collisions. And then she threw her vectors towards his position. Munru jumped back, and avoided being hit. "Excellent." He told her "Time to try something new." Munru jumped up onto the air, and then used his propellers to fall over Nana's position maximizing his speed.

Nana covered herself with her vectors, and jumped aside. But Munru's attack caught her almost off guard, so she fell backwards to the floor.

"Very good, Nana. But still not good enough." he helped her get back on her feet, and then they continued with the same cycle of offense and defense over and over again. Then Munru repeated the same cycles with Lucy, and she continuosly fell to the ground.

Lucy hated the whole thing. Nana was getting better with every round. Slowly, but steady. And yet, with every round, she did not feel that she herself was improving anything. Munru also thought the same. Lucy was holding herself back out of fear. Attacking her and pressing her was simply not working. What other option was there?

"Time for a recess." said Munru. "Go get yourselfs something to eat. We will continue later on."

Lucy and Nana walked back into the house, and Lucy tried to avoid Nana for the time being, since she just started feeling resented towards her. Why was she better than her? How could she have so much control of her agression? However, Nana was completely oblivious about it, and tried to start talking with her.

"Did you see me breaking the targets?" asked Nana.

"Yes." said Lucy exasperated.

"At first I was nervous because I wasn't sure if I could break them all. And I missed some of them. But then when Munru shot them at me, I was able to dodge them. Did you see that, miss Lucy?"

"Yeah..." Lucy was not liking the conversation at all.

"I can't wait for the next time that we train. I hope you go easy on me when we have to fight."

Lucy stood still for a second. What did she mean by that?

"When we have to fight?" she asked confused.

"Well, if we go at the Institute, and other diclonii get out, they might try to fight us. And since the last time that I fought another diclonius... well... it didn't go well for me, then I suppose I have to get better at it. And you could help me at that. Right?"

Lucy had just realized that it was almost inevitable that Munru would get them to fight against the other, to ensure their proficiency in the battlefield. Nana was even hopeful that it would happen. Did she wanted revenge? And at the state that Lucy was, she couldn't attack or defend herself properly, maybe Nana would actually harm her. But worst of all... what if she lost control and attacked Nana again? Nana had a certain level of control, she knew when to stop. But if Lucy attacked her without control...

"I can't fight you." Lucy told her. "I could harm you without meaning it."

"Huh?" Nana was visibly confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's complicated, Nana. I care for you. I just don't want to see you harmed. Not again. And if I am the one responsible for it... I could never forgive myself."

"Lucy..." said softly Nana. "I'm really happy that you care for me. I care for you too. But as I said, we might have to confront others with vectors. And if we don't train for it, then I might get harmed by another anyway that does not care at all. And the same could happen to you too."

She was right. Other diclonii won't care for either of them. If they got attacked by them, they would not stop at all, simply because they wouldn't want to stop. But still... Lucy realized that she was also scared of fighting Nana now, because she was getting better at fighting, while Lucy herself had lost her fighting spirit. Why? Where had her spirit gone? What was it that had driven her to fight in the first place? Was it the virus? The virus took advantage of her fury, but she was furious in the first place, otherwise the virus couldn't have manipulated her to begin with. What had caused that fury?

"I suppose we will have to fight at some point." said Lucy. "Promise me one thing Nana. If something happens, and I lose control of myself, you will stop me. No matter what you have to do. If I can't stop myself, then you will do everything you can to stop me. Even if it means that you have to kill me."

Nana flinched at that. "What?! No! I'm not going to do that!"

"Nana, please." said Lucy "It's possible that I can't hold myself back and I try to really harm you. Promise me that you will protect yourself first."

"Lucy," answered Nana in an angry tonality, as if she would have been offended by that request. "I promise that I will take care of myself, but also of you. You are like my sister now, and I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Lucy felt terribly guilty now. Nana was not trying to get revenge on her, but merely trying to make sure that neither of them would be harmed during the raid. Maybe she had realized that Lucy couldn't defend herself properly, and was trying to help her too. Lucy couldn't stop herself from getting her now-sister between her arms, and caressed her hair.

"Nana, you are an unbelievably amazing little sister." Lucy told her from the bottom of her heart.

Nana gave her hug back, and said "We are so similar to the other. I really don't want to see you harmed either."And then she hugged her a bit more tightly.

"Miss Nana." called Munru's voice that had just entered. "I would like to have a word with you. In private."

"Ahm..." started saying Nana nervously. "Am I in trouble?"

"Not at all. It's just a request that i have for you, from the part of mister Kouta." said Munru back at her.

"Oh. Sure. I'll be there in a second." Nana turned her head towards Lucy, and said "I really want both of us to come back safe from the raid. So I hope we can help each other out."

"I hope for the same." answered Lucy.

"I'll see you later, Lucy."

And so Nana went with Munru, and Lucy went on her own. Soon enough, the time for the next training session would come, and eventually Lucy would have to fight against one of the only people in the world she cared about.


	19. Destroy

Time passed, and it was not slowing down. Lucy had taken a brief lunch from the kitchen, that she did not know who had prepared, and altough she would have enjoyed it on another ocassion, she just barely had payed any attention to the taste, since she was way too stressed out at the moment. Not only she still had not progressed with her control over her agression, but now she also knew that her family and herself were really not that important for the Foundation, so at any moment they could simply be killed, or imprisoned and separated, or maybe Bright would decide to snatch the body of one of them... or even all of them... So the only way that she could see forward was to prove that she could be useful. And that she could be dangerous if they attacked her family. She was determined to get through whatever training that Munru put her on.

As soon as Lucy walked outside to continue her training, she was greeted by a dreadful sight.

Munru was standing just a couple of meters away from a tree were Nana was tied up at, and unconscious. His gatling gun was aimed at Nana's head. Munru raised his gatling gun a couple of centimeters above Nana and opened fire. The tree trunk was instantaneously pierced by dozens of bullets. Then he re-aimed his gun at Nana's head.

"You are still holding back." said Munru looking at Lucy straight into the eyes. "Attacking you has proved to be entirely useless. Perhaps attacking the ones you care for will be more effective."

Lucy got frozen in her place. Was this really happening? She had started to trust Munru to some extent, but now he was threatening Nana.

"What are you doing?" she said with true terror running through her veins. "Let her go. She has nothing to do with this..."

"If you cannot attack me, and defend her, then I will shoot her, and she will die. I am going to count to five, and I will shoot. One."

"Wait!" fear and rage were building up inside her.

"Two."

'Lucy. You have to attack him.' said the voice in her head. 'You have to kill him.'

"Please, I don't want to..." said Lucy. This was the same scenario than with her puppy. She was hopeless. She couldn't protect the ones she loved.

"Three."

'He is going to do it. You are weak without me.' kept saying the voice of the virus 'ONLY I CAN HELP YOU. DO YOU WANT TO SAVE HER? THEN GIVE IN. LET ME IN, LUCY. IT'S THE ONLY WAY.'

"Four."

'KILL. KILL. KILL...'

Lucy's vectors manifested, and went towards Munru's position. Munru jumped back, and avoided the hit.

"Finally!" he said in a somewhat relieved tone. "There is the fighting spirit tha..." He stopped at the middle sentence. Lucy was going straight at him again. Her vectors now were far more close to actually break him in half. But still he managed to use his propellers on time and got away by just milimeters. "What the...?!"

Lucy impulsed herself with her vectors, and started tearing apart absolutely everything that got in her way to catch Munru. Every tree trunk, branches and logs. No rocks or walls would stop her now. Munru managed to look at her eyes once more, and noticed that there was an entirely different expression than before. It was not anger, not even hatred. Only the shadow of a simple objective: destroy and annihilate.

"Lucy!" yelled Munru. "Snap out of it, Lucy!"

There was no stopping. There was no snaping out. Only pure and raw destructive power. There was no use in complaining or asking nicely. No choice at all. He had to fight. Munru aimed his gatling gun at Lucy's head, and opened fire. Every single bullet was stopped by her vectors, all the while another one went in for the kill.

Munru's reaction was instantaneous, his eyes were able to see both infrared and ultraviolet light, far beyond the spectrum of a normal human eye, so he could easily see every movement that Lucy made with her vectors. He punched away the vector that was coming towards him, and changed his weapon into the canon. No mercy or contemplations. He aimed it again, and opened fire.

Lucy's vectors absorbed the hit. But she was pushed down to the ground. And although her head had started to bleed, she immediately got up, and started pushing herself throught the tree trunks towards Munru again.

"You think that giving in to pure agression makes you stronger?!" yelled Munru as he aimed his canon at the base of a tree and opened fire, and at the same time he dodge yet another attack by Lucy, over and over again. "But it only makes you predictable!!!"

Munru stood still for a second at the position he had calculated the tree would fall, and Lucy went straight into his position. Munru moved at the last second, and the tree fell right over Lucy. But her vectors had managed to break it in half. She was not stopping. He had to be killed. He had to be destroyed. He had to be annihilated.

No mercy or contemplations was almost a motto among the Foundation's Mobile Task Forces. And Munru was no exception to it. He aimed his canon yet again and shot... but then the projectile was catched and thrown away from both of them. Four extra vectors were in the air and grabbed onto Lucy's vectors. Nana was in front of her with the most worried expression she had, and she immediately reached into Lucy's pockets and took out a syringe from them and then sticked it into Lucy's neck, who felt the burning sensation at her side, and in a matter of seconds everything went black for her...


	20. Locked up.

As Lucy opened her eyes again, she felt the pulsing sensation at the side of her neck. And she also felt a collar placed around it. Her hands were chained to a bed, and so were her feet.

"W-what? what happened?" her head was spinning.

"I see that you are awake." said a voice that sounded very unfamiliar, or rather, known, but not for very long. Lucy raised her head, and saw the new body of Jack Bright looking at her through a glass.

"Bright. Where am I? What happened?" Lucy was entirely disoriented.

"You are in the humanoid containment cells of the cabin of the Foundation. You have attached to your neck a collar that will electrocute you if you try to use your vectors."

Lucy flinched back at that. "Why am I here?"

"My, oh my... you seriously don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"You lost control. You attacked Lieutenant Munru with the intention to kill him. And if you lost control against him, there is no guarantee that you won't lose control against someone else. So until further notice you will stay locked up. Until we can verify that you are under control."

"W-what? No! You can't do this!"

"I can and I am." said Bright.

"Munru... he aimed his gun at Nana while she was unconscious. I was trying to defend her."

"Nana was awake. She was covered with her vectors, even if Munru would have opened fire on her, she would have been unharmed."

Lucy was shocked "Nana was awake? Then what was that all about? Did she tricked me? Did THEY tricked me?"

"They did exactly as they were told. It was my idea, Lucy. An attempt to bring back your agression." said Bright with unfaced sincerity and an unrepentant tone.

"Why did you...?"

"We are just a day away from the raid to the Diclonius Research Institute, and we need a diclonius that can fend off other diclonius, and that doesn't attack the Foundation personel at the same time. For a second there I thought that it would be a good idea to have you in the raid, since you were the one that started this infection. Poetic justice you might call it. But since you seem to be either a completely unhinged and out of control psychopathic killing machine, or a completely useless whimp that would stay crying in a corner, and there seems to be no in between with you, then we will have to use Nana as the only negotiator with the other diclonii, while we keep you here for your own safety and the safety of others."

"Wait! NO! Nana is just a little girl! She could get killed!"

"You were able to match one of the best soldiers of the Foundation, and he almost had to kill you in order to stop your childish tantrum. If Nana would not have intervened, the fighting you two started would have ended with either you, or Munru killed. So I would say that Nana is far more prepared for this mission than you."

So much for proving her utility... she had screwed up... The voice of the virus had once again proven to be stronger than her, and had once more taken control of her through her fury and fear. And yet without it, she would actually get killed or let someone else be killed even if it was from her own team.

"Please. I don't want to be locked any more. I have spent years in cages. I don't want to."

"No dangerous SCP wants to be locked up. And yet we keep them locked up for their safety and that of others. Secure, Contain and Protect. The protection part goes both ways." Said Bright firmly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a raid to a facility to organize." and Bright left her alone in the cell.

Lucy tried to move her vectors, but she immediately felt an electrical current passing through her neck. She screamed in pain, and then realized that she was trapped. Exactly as if she would have been at the Diclonius Research Institute. Perhaps it was her damned destiny to be locked up forever. Perhaps she would never see any member of her family again. But at least, they would not run the risk that she would lose control and attacked them by accident. She was happy for them... they were finally safe from her... from her agression... her infectious vectors... her maniatical rage... her constant self destructive behaviour... she was happy for them... no... she was terribly sad... and she started to cry... she didn't want to be away from them. She wanted to be free, and protect them, she wanted to see Nana's smile, and hear Kouta's voice, and help Mayu and Yuka cook dinner for all. She wanted her life, and her family back. She would do absolutely anything to have that opportunity once more...

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Bright left the secret basement, he found himself in front of Captain Carter, who seemed to be very eager to speak to him.

"Master Bright. May I have a word with you?"

"What might it be Captain?" Bright answered dryly.

"We are having cooperation problems with the rest of the VIP group."

"Yeah... I figured this much. What might be the problem?"

"Nana is refusing to continue training, and has said that she will not help us during the raid unless Lucy is released, and the rest of the VIP group are having similar attitudes."

"ARG... this day just keeps getting better and better..." said Bright sarcastically and exasperated. "Gather them all in the living room, I will speak with them."

Bright walked to the living room, and waited there. Later on, Carter and other guards including entered alongside all the members of Lucy's family.

"Alright then... what's going on?"

"We want you to release Lucy." said Kouta without a second thought.

"No." answered Bright back. "Anything else?"

"I will not help you in the raid!" yelled Nana "And then you can confront all the diclonii in there on your own!"

"Wouldn't be the first time that we have to do something alongside those lines..." said Bright unfaced.

"Lucy did nothing wrong." said Yuka. "You set her up to go berserk, and then you punished her for it. Because of the situation that you forced her into. How is that any fair?"

"It's not about being fair." said Bright "It was just a test, and she failed it."

"You can be sure that we will no longer cooperate with you." said Mayu, she was little but something in her eyes showed she was fierce. "And we will find a way to release Lucy. Or at the very least try to. So you can have us on your side or against you."

"Then I guess I will have to lock the lot of you in separate cells." answered Bright still unmoved.

"Bright," said Kouta "you know as well as we do, that Arakawa said that she would only cooperate with you and the Foundation only if you helped the diclonii trapped in the Institute. If you have to fight all of them with no diclonii on your side, you would probably have to go all out on them, and they would most likely get killed. And then Arakawa may not have any intention of helping you with the cure. And you said that the cure could be delayed several months or years."

Kouta took one step forward towards Bright, and then continued. "Lucy and Nana are your best options at trying to get the rest of the diclonii to cooperate with you. If you want our cooperation. If you want our help, then you know the price. LET. LUCY. GO."

Bright stared at him, and had a sudden fit of laughter. "You have balls, kid. I will give you that." he turned his head towards Nana and told her "I could threaten the rest of your family in order to get your cooperation, after all you seem to be far more in control than Lucy, which means that at the very least I could try to control you throught them." Bright's face was crossed by an almost sadistic smile, but then he turned his face towards Kouta and said "However, you have all come together with a single objective. I respect that. And sometimes being too overly tyranic gets you nowhere, and puts people against you, undermining the control that you need in the first place. I will give the lot of you one chance, and one chance only to ensure that Lucy is able to help during the raid, defend herself, and make sure that she does not attack any Foundation personel during this operation. If you fail, then Lucy will stay locked up." he turned his head again towards Nana "And as for you miss Nana, you will help us out of your own will wether Lucy manages to get in control of herself or not. You know as well as I do that the diclonii in there are being tortured and Lieutenant Munru has told me that you have your own desire to release them from such fate. So, given the circumstances, I'd say that we all have..." he looked at his watch "thirty hours to finish with the preparations. So put a rush on it. You will all have one moment to speak to Lucy, convince her to cooperate, and if possible make sure that she understands the consequences of her failure. Now move it."


	21. The glass prison

Kouta walked into the basement, and as he approached the containment cells, he saw that all the cells were covered in darkness, except for one which had a dim light coming through a glass window. He immediately knew that Lucy must be there. He walked towards her, and he still wasn't sure what he would tell her...

The second he showed his head over the edge of the glass, he saw Lucy sitting over the bed, with her head lowered down, and cleaning her cheeks.

"Lucy." She called her name, and she immediately turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Kouta!" she yelled and jumped from the bed in an impulse to try to reach to him. But the chains in her hands and feet held her back, and she couldn't even reach the glass between them. She still tried to pull herself even closer to him... but she couldn't. So she just stopped trying after a while, and just stood still, looking longingly to the man she loved so much.

"Lucy, we are trying to get you out of here. We will not let you stay locked up. You have my word."

"Kouta..." said Lucy hoping to find the right words to tell him. "There is nothing in this world that I want more than to be with all of you again. But I've come to realize that I am too dangerous to be let out. If I ever lose control again, I could end up killing one of you. I just could not live with myself if that ever happens. I can barely live with myself now, knowing the kind of monster that I am. So only knowing that you all are alright will be enough for me. It has to be enough for me." she said that last phrase with a broken voice as she started sobbing.

"How can you say that?" said back Kouta. "You are part of our family. I know that you would never do such thing. I know that deep down you are a good person. You just... had a bad start in life. But you don't have to think so low about yourself. I know that beneath all of that agression... behind all of that violence, there is still that little girl that was amazed of looking at the elephants and jiraffes in a zoo. I know that inside of you there is still the sweet Nyu that we all loved, and that loved life and was amazed at everything new she found in the world."

"K-Kouta..." Lucy's eyes widened in a bit of a shock "I... I'm not that person... I can't be that person... Even when I want to."

"Lucy, you have always been that person. You just made bad choices."

"Yes. I made terrible choices. So terrible that I ended up killing people. Even the ones you loved. Maybe Bright was right when he told me that I don't deserve to have friends or a family. I should be left here forever where I won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."

"By hell you won't!!!" he screamed. "My sister and my father... they can't be brought back. Nobody that has died can be brought back. And I won't forget them, and I won't forget what you did to them. That doesn't mean that I want you locked up anymore. What would that accomplish? Please, Lucy. Deep down, I know you never really wanted to be a bad person. Otherwise you wouldn't feel any remorse at all."

"Kouta" she whispered. Why was it that she always felt better with him around? Even in the worst of her moments... he seemed to be willing to try to lift her up. Even the voice of the virus seemed to be quiet when he was near her. "I want to be with you. With all of you. I really do. But, what would happen if I lose control again? What if I go on a killing rage again?"

"Then learn to control it. For your own sake. For everyone's sake..." Kouta placed his hand against the glass, and Lucy stretched her arm as far as she could, trying to reach it, even when the chains prevented her from going too far.

"Kouta. There is one more thing I need to tell you. And if I don't say it now, perhaps I won't have another chance." Lucy had one last bit of courage that she had to gather to say this "I know that you and Miss Yuka are... well... together to put it somehow... But I want you to know that... if we would have met in another life... in other circumstances... I would have liked to be with you... Kouta... I love you."

Kouta looked at the ground, and then back to Lucy. A part of him would have liked for the same... "I know that we can't be together, for everything that happened in our past. But I do want you in my life, at least as part of this family that we have now." He looked inside her eyes and told her with all the sincerity he could "I love you too."

Neither of them would ever say that to each other again. For the simple fact that it would be too painful to either say it, or hear it ever again, knowing that they could never breach the barrier of the pain that she had caused him.

A brief moment of silence then followed. Until Kouta spoke once more "There is nothing we can do for the dead. But maybe there is still hope for the living. Bright wants us to help you gain control of your anger, Lucy. According to Bright there are other diclonii there that are being tortured. If I could go there and help them myself, I would. But I can't... I would probably just get killed in there. But perhaps you and Nana can." he paused for a moment. "No, I just can't ask you that either. I don't want you to put your life in danger. I just want you to come with us. But if Bright is going to force either you or Nana to go in there, then at least you should be able to defend yourselfs. And if you two are together then perhaps you will be more likely to survive." Kouta once more looked into her eyes, and said "Please Lucy. Let us help you."

Lucy looked down to the floor for a moment, and then back to Kouta, and just said. "If you are the one that asks me, then I cannot refuse."

"Don't do it because I am the one that asks you. Do it for yourself. Because you deserve to be free. Free from the violence in your heart."

Lucy's mouth turned into a saddened smile and said. "I can try. I promise you, that I will try."

"That is good enough Lucy. It's everything you can do. It's everything anyone can do. Just to try to be better every day."

Another moment of silence in which both stared at the other with a longing desire to be together... to forget the past, or even erase it from their memory just to be able to be with each other.

"You should go." said Lucy with sorrow on her voice. "Perhaps Bright will let me go if I promise to try to stay in control. And when everything is done, and when Bright lets me go, I promise you that we will be part of the same family, even if we never end up being together."

"That sounds really nice, Lucy. My sweet Lucy. I hope we will. I know we will."

Kouta reluctantly walked back outside cleaning his own tears from his eyes. And as for Lucy, she felt that despite everything she had done, maybe she could still be loved by someone... someday...

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuka never really liked dark and narrow corridors. So walking in the basement was quite disturbing. But worse of all was that she had no choice. Not because someone was forcing her, but because it was necessary. It was her duty to do it. And she would do it for every member of her family, and in this case, for Lucy.

As she looked through the glass window, she found Lucy standing still, and with a lost sight over her face. Perhaps she was imagining a different life, where she would have had a normal life, where she could have been free from all the violence she had caused. Where only her most beautiful dreams would have come true.

"Hello, Lucy." said Yuka to her through the glass.

"Miss Yuka." said Lucy back at her, and tried to get close to the glass again. "Have you come to try to help me too?"

"Always, Lucy." said her comforting voice. "I will always try to help you. All of us will always be there for you."

"You shouldn't." said Lucy to her.

"Why?" asked Yuka saddened and confused. "Why do you say that?"

"You don't know what I have done... What I wanted to do... what I would have done to you..." Lucy's tears came running down her cheeks.

"What are you saying, Lucy?" said Yuka feeling even more sad than before.

"Kouta never told you... What I said to him the day that I killed his family..." regret was filtered through her voice.

Yuka's face turned scared and somber, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the next bit of the conversation "Ahm... No... I don't think he told me."

"Miss Yuka, I want you to know that I would never willingly hurt you now. Or anybody in the family that accepted me. But there is a monster living inside me. And for a very long time, that monster had too much control over me. And I wanted to hurt a lot of people." Lucy turned her head towards her, and with a sorrowful tone said "Even you." and Lucy lowered her head to the ground.

Yuka felt a cold fear running down her spine. "W-why?"

"The diclonius virus has many side effects. The worst of them is a voice inside my head that is perpetually telling me to kill humans. The day that I commited the worst mistake of my life was when I listened to what that voice was saying. And after I had killed Kouta's family, the voice wasn't satisfied. I wasn't satisfied. And I wanted to go after you too. That is why you shouldn't want to help me. Because I wanted to hurt you... And I hate that. I now know that you never deserved any of that. Maybe nobody I hurted deserved it." Lucy started to cry and placed her head between her legs.

Yuka was in shock. Lucy had just confessed that a part of her wanted her dead. But after so many days living with her, why hadn't she harmed her?

"You mean to tell me that you could kill me one day?"

"I don't know. This last few days I have been able to hold back that voice. But today I lost control and that voice took over me. If I ever lose control again, I might hurt you. Even if I would regret it later."

"That voice is the one that tells you to harm others?"

"Yes."

"Then tell it to shut up." said Yuka enraged. "Make sure that it knows that you will never listen to it again. Make sure to never listen to it again."

"That is what I want... but today... when Munru kept attacking me, I couldn't defend. And when Nana was in danger I couldn't defend her either... that is until I let my anger grow, but then the voice of the virus took over and I went into a destructive rage. So I don't know if it would be worse to never listen to that voice, or letting it control me again."

Yuka was feeling uncomfortable, but she had to know the truth "Does a part of you still wants to hurt me? Does that voice still tells you to attack me?"

Lucy had not thought about that. She tried to hear the voice... it wasn't there. It was quiet. Just the same than with Kouta.

"I... I can't hear it. Not right now." But then again what did that mean?

"Lucy, perhaps there is something else to that voice. When did it start? Do you remember it?"

"No. Not really. But I remember that the day that it started I was feeling very, very alone."

"Then perhaps it's not just anger that ignites it." Yuka told the girl she had once known as the helpless Nyu. "Perhaps is more the fear of being alone. Fear of losing the ones you love."

Lucy turned her head towards Yuka suprised by that... Could it be? Was it fear and not anger? Or perhaps the fear was the source of the anger. The first time that she had killed anyone, was when she lost her puppy. She had just wanted to be with it from the beginning. And when she attacked the people at the fair, she was afraid of losing Kouta too. She had just wanted to be with someone that cared for her... somebody that would have given her a place in the world. She just wanted to stop feeling so alone all the time. And the fact that she was alone was what triggered the anger... and the parasite had taken advantage of it.

Lucy let out a sad laughter "It's almost a joke." she said "By being a killer I isolated myself even more, which in turn gave me all the more reason to be lonely and angry for it. It became a vicious cycle, from which I was never able to escape." She paused for a second to think about it. "Thank you, miss Yuka. I really needed this."

"Lucy." called Yuka to her "If you ever feel alone again, just remember that you will always have us."

"I will, miss Yuka. I will."

Yuka walked away. And Lucy, although she had nobody around her at this moment, she knew she was not alone. Not anymore.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mayu went in the basement next. She had met Lucy as a nice girl that had wanted to help her just as much as Kouta and Yuka, even if she was just a helpless girl that could barely speak while continuosly repeating the word 'Nyu'. And she would be damned if she wouldn't do the same for her.

"Hello, miss Lucy." she said through the glass.

"Mayu!" Lucy looked at her with a gleam of happiness in her eyes.

"How are you, miss Lucy?"

Lucy looked down to the floor and said only one word "Scared."

Mayu placed her back against the glass window, and then let herself slide to the ground to sit down "Me too. What are you scared of?"

"Of losing all of you, and never seeing you again."

Mayu really felt the same. What would have happened to her if Kouta and Yuka wouldn't have adopted her? What if something separated all of them?

"I really wouldn't like to be alone either." Mayu told Lucy. "Not again."

"Yeah..." Lucy saw Mayu throught the glass and then realized that there was something missing from her... something that had always completed her image at every corner... "Where is Wanta? Where is your dog? What happened to her?"

Mayu lowered her head while a terrible sadness built up inside her. "The day that we tried to escape, I tried to get Wanta with us, but as soon as the fire started, she ran away. And I couldn't catch her... She left and left us behind..." Mayu thought a bit more. "Maybe it was my fault... Just like the dead of the man that was trying to protect us... he died because of me..."

Lucy didn't know what Mayu was talking about. "What are you saying? What happened?"

"When we were escaping from the battle, Officer Lock was aiming his gun at some other soldiers, but he had Nana at his feet, and if something happened, maybe she would have been hit. So I tried to move her, but she was so heavy... so I fell to the ground and distracted mister Lock... and then the other soldiers shot and hitted him with a bazooka blast. He died trying to shield us. He died because of me."

"Mayu, you didn't meant for it. You were just trying to protect someone you cared for. You didn't know what would happen. You shouldn't feel guilty... I mean, look at me. I have done terrible things, and I did them on purpose... and I know that there is no way to undo what is already done." Lucy looked at her for a second, noticing that she was still upset. "Perhaps you should try to forgive yourself. You never meant to do any harm. Not really."

"Maybe you are right miss Lucy. But it doesn't take away the harm that my mistake made."

"I'm not asking you to forget your mistake... only to let go of it. It's done. You can't undo it. No matter how hard you want to." Lucy then realized that she was talking about herself too.

"Maybe I should try that... then perhaps you should try to do the same miss Lucy. If there is nothing we can do to change the past, then it becomes pointless to be stuck on it. Thank you Lucy. I thought I was going to be the one to help you, but as it turns out, you helped me."

"You helped me too. You just didn't noticed it. Thank you."

"When you come out, I hope we can be together as a family."

"Yeah. I hope that too."

As Mayu walked out, Lucy finally understood that hating on herself for the things she couldn't change was useless. Maybe next time she should try to focus on the things that she could change. Maybe helping others... maybe that could be a starting point.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Nana had been a bit reluctant of going down to meet Lucy. After all she was partially responsible for putting Lucy in this predicament. But if she did nothing, then it would mean that she didn't try anything to make amends. So onwards she marched down the hall to confront Lucy.

"Miss Lucy." said Nana through the glass.

"Oh. It's you." said Lucy with a bit more coldness than what she would have liked.

"Yeah. It's me. Silly old me." Nana was looking at the ground, and feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen. When mister Munru called for me, he took me to talk to Bright, and then he explained to us that we had to try make sure that you could defend yourself during the raid, and he mentioned that he had given you a syringe that would make you fall asleep. I was just trying to help you. I just want to help you."

"And now I'm locked up." Lucy thought for a second. She really couldn't blame Nana. Her intentions had been good, and it really was Lucy's own lack of control that brought her here. "I know you really didn't mean for this to happen Nana."

"But it happened anyway. I could try to break you out. With my vectors... I could break the cage easily."

"No." said Lucy to her. "It could only cause us more problems. Bright is giving us a change to escape from this situation peacefuly. If I can control myself then he will let me walk out. That is why you have all been coming down here, to try to calm my mind."

"And if you can't?"

"If I can't really control myself, then walking out would mean that I would be a walking danger for everyone around me. I have already lived that path, and I hate it. If staying here would be the only way to prevent any more pointless destruction caused by me, then so be it. I would rather sacrifice my own life than to keep on killing innocent people."

Nana looked at Lucy, and noticed that she never really wanted to be evil. She was thrown into a bad situation, and now she proved to be willing to give up all her life to change that.

"Miss Lucy. I want you to know that I really have grown to admire you."

Admire her? for what? what was there in her to admire? She was either a murderer, or a useless wimp. Nothing to admire in either one of those things.

"Why? what could you possibly see in me that could make you admire me?"

"Because, although the world has treated you badly, you want to protect it from your own anger. Because today, when Munru was threatening me, you went on to defend me with everything you had. And because I saw how you could keep up with him. So I know that you really have a lot more talent than me in a fight. I don't think I could do all that."

Lucy smiled at her... how naive she was... how nice her words were... And how she envied her self control...

"How do you do it, Nana?"

"Do what?"

"Stay in control of yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"When we were training, I had to hold back my anger, because the voice of the virus is constantly telling me to kill people, so if I let that anger grow in any amount, I completely lose control and enter the raging state that you saw. I just can't stop. How do you do it? Don't you hear the voice of the virus inside your head?"

"You hear it too?" said Nana with eyes widening. "I thought I was the only one. I never mentioned it, because I am already an odd ball, so I thought that it would have made me even more of an odd ball."

Lucy was now entirely perplexed. Nana wasn't immune to the voice of the virus, but somehow it didn't made her violent.

"How, Nana? How can you stay in control even when that thing is constantly trying to make you kill people."

"Because it's always saying that humans are evil, and that humans should be killed. But if humans were evil, then that means that my father had to be evil too. It means that mister Kouta, Miss Yuka, and even Mayu would have to be evil too. And none of them has ever given me a reason to think that they were evil. So I figured that the voice in my head was always lying."

Lucy felt as such an idiot... her whole life had been ruined by the lying fraud that was always spitting venom in her head. And Nana had figured out that the voice was a parasitic fraud from the beginning. That is why she was in control. Because the voice never really took a hold of her.

"But even when you are angry, or you feel alone, don't you feel the need to listen to that voice?"

"I did. Once. But then I remembered my father. He told me to be a good girl, and I wanted to make my dad proud. So every time that the voice told me to harm people I just thought about my father. Now sometimes when I'm in doubt I also think about Mister Kouta, and Miss Yuka, and Mayu. And even you miss Lucy. When the voice tells me that there is no place for me in the world, when I feel alone and afraid, I just think of the people that have given me a place in the world, and that have kept me company all along."

"Nana..." Lucy finally saw the light. She had thought that her fear of being alone had to be counteracted by not wanting company. By pushing others away. That way if they ever betrayed her, she wouldn't feel alone, simply because she never truly trusted them to begin with. This was what had started the vicious circle. Her loneliness and her agressive behaviour had started from this paradoxical view. "So when the voice of the virus is telling you to harm others, you just remember the people that you have loved."

'Revelation' felt as an understatement. That is why the voice of the virus had no effect when she was around the people she loved. Because she wasn't feeling lonely. She wasn't feeling without a place in the world. So the virus kept quiet because it had no way to manipulate her in those moments. Perhaps now... perhaps now she could fight it back... It was worth the shot.

"Nana..." a mixture of joy and perplexity were building up inside her, and now there was one more thing she couldn't delay anymore. "Call Bright. Tell him that I am ready to try again."

"Are you sure?"

"Completely. Oh, and Nana."

"Yes?"

"If you ever think that you have harmed me, remember that today you gave the the key to be free. Thank you, Nana."

Nana's face was once more lightened up with a smile, and onward she went to speak with Bright.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy was now almost hopeful, perhaps this time she had the proper tools to fight back the control of the virus. But it had to be tested first. If she lost the next time around, then maybe there would be no turning back.

A while passed, until Bright once again appeared before the glass of Lucy's cell.

"Hello again, Lucy."

"Bright."

"So... apparently you feel ready to try again with controlling your agression. Right?"

"That would be the plan. Yes."

"How do you know this time will work? how do you know that you won't go berserk and start killing people?"

Lucy stared at him with disdain.

"You are a hypocrite, Bright. From the very beginning you have done nothing except being a destructive bastard. A manipulator that cares for nobody, and you even enjoy killing as much as the most blood-thirsty monster. So don't come to tell me that I don't know if I will be killing people or not. I have my reasons to think that I will have a better chance this time around."

Bright laughed at that statement.

"So you think that I'm a hypocrite because I sometimes have to kill others?" asked Bright with his pernicious smile. "I don't just kill at random, Lucy. I kill those that represent a threat towards our goals. In this case, our goal is to contain a disease that could be a potential cause for the extinction of all human race. Now imagine if I would try to save every single person that would be involved in bringing that destruction. Do you think they will care? Do you think they will change? Sometimes people are so obsessed with their own idealistic world-view that they will bring death and destruction everywhere, in their attempt to bring into reality an imagined utopia, that never really becomes a reality. And yet they keep up with their destructive behaviour, no matter how many times it fails. Sometimes you will find yourself before somebody that cannot be saved, and then you have to either imprison them, or kill them altogether."

Bright came a bit closer to the glass, and then continued.

"I sometimes enjoy the thrill of the battle, but that is because I am half-way crazy. You too are crazy, otherwise you wouldn't have enjoyed killing people too. Perhaps there are more common things between us than what you would like to admit."

Lucy felt terribly uncomfortable with that statement. But he was right... both could be relentless until they had achieved what they wanted, even if it meant harming others in the process. The main difference was that at least Bright knew when to stop, or at the very least, who to actually harm. Lucy on the other hand, could barely differentiate between those that deserved to be killed for being a threat to her or those she cared about, and those who were just bystanders that had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in front of the wrong diclonius.

Lucy felt a burst of shame, and lowered her head. Bright was a crazy manipulator, sure. But until now, he had been showing to be acting in accordance to what he always preached: protecting humanity. Even now, he could have just let her locked up, but he still had decided to give her one more chance to prove that she had at least the minimum control necessary to be released.

"I don't really blame you for the destruction that you caused, Lucy. Because to some extent you never really wanted to be a monster. However, you are under the influence of a dangerous SCP, and therefore I have to treat you as a threat. So consider this to be the last chance to actually show me that you are not a monster that must be contained. If you fail this time around... you will be locked up again and you won't be released at all. And you won't complain, and neither will your family. So... should I open the door for you?"

Lucy stared at Bright. She was ready to prove to him that she was no longer the monster she used to be.

"Go ahead."

"Very well." Bright pressed several buttons on a panel next to the door, and used a key to unlock a second lock.

The door opened and behind it, there also was Lieutenant Munru, with his canons at the ready. If Lucy would have tried to attack or escape, he would have been there to stop her by any means necessary. Bright then entered the containment cell, and one by one he removed every chain in her body, and finally the collar of her neck. Then without saying a word he moved back.

"Lets go, Munru." he said to the standing guard. "Our time is too precious to be wasted."

And they walked away, after some seconds, Lucy walked behind them, and got out of the basement too.


	22. Tamed Beast.

As Lucy walked out from the basement, she was greeted by her entire family. One by one went over to hug her, and welcome her in their own tender way. But the reunion was interrupted by Bright.

"Alright then." he told them "Since Lucy wants to be put to the test once more, we will not delay it a second longer. Lieutenant Munru will take you outside and will put you through one last test. There will be no extra chances after this one, so make it count."

Munru got Lucy outside, and the rest of her family looked at her from the inside of the Cabin, except for Nana, who also got out under request of Lucy herself, in case she needed to be restrained, but otherwise she would not interfere.

"Ready?" asked Munru.

Lucy took a deep breath, and then tried to picture the faces of every single member of her family. Kouta. Yuka. Mayu. Nana. She pictured herself trying to protect them all. "I'm ready."

In the blink of an eye Munru started shooting the fiery tagets at Lucy. Her vectors started smashing them with no problem, one after the other, not missing a single one.

"Good." said Munru "Very good. Lets see if you can do something harder than that." Munru turned on his propellers and went straight towards Lucy's position. Lucy managed to hold him with her vectors, and then he started to lift the stenght of his propellers just like before. Her vectors started bending backwards. 'Is this all you have?' said the voice in her head. 'You are still weak without me.'

"Shut up." she whispered back at it, while she imagined what she would have to do if behind her would have been her whole family, having only her as their shield from an enraged cyborg. Immediately, one of her vectors went straight for Munru's feet, who then jumped backwards, avoiding being hit. Lucy stood still, waiting for the next movement.

Munru smiled at her. She was finally getting better. "Final test. Prepare yourself."

Munru started running towards her, and jumped at the last second, while he used his propellers to maximize his speed as he fell over Lucy. Lucy's vectors pushed her to the side, and then turned again straight towards Munru's position, but he also moved aside, and went right over Lucy with an attempted kick. At the last second, Lucy deflected the hit with her vectors. 

Munru kept on attacking her from different angles, and Lucy could either avoid the attack or fully deflect it. And whenever she found an opportunity, she sent her vectors onto Munru's position, over and over again. But still, none of her attacks seemed to be out of control. She was finally using only the necessary strenght to stop him, but no longer trying to actually hurt him.

The voice kept on rambling insults inside her head. 'Lucy, you are not strong enough, you will fail without me.'

"No" she whispered back at it. "I am stronger than you. And I will surpass you." she said as she avoided yet another attack by Munru and threw once more her vectors towards him.

"Enough!" yelled Bright from the side. "Stop the fight immediately!"

Munru avoided the last hit, and immediately stopped, looking at Lucy to see if she was actually stopping, and if not, he was ready to counter attack. But Lucy stood still, and turned off her vectors.

"About time." said Munru relieved. "You are finally in control. Congratulations."

From inside the cabin, her family started cheering for her. She was going to remain as a free woman, and she had finally achieved full control of her aggressive behavior. And she knew deep inside her heart that it was because of them. The voice was still rambling, but now it had become background noise, and she could easily ignore it. She was finally hopeful that perhaps the monster inside her had finally being tamed.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the fight, Lucy and her family went to take a well deserved rest, and Bright went towards his office, followed by Munru and Carter, to discuss the last preparations for the raid that would take place in less than twenty seven hours more.

"So, what are we going to do now?" asked Munru.

"Simple. It's time for Lucy and Nana to fight each other. Let them rest for a while, and then make sure that they are capable of fending off from other diclonii. It's quite obvious."

Captain Carter also had a question in his mind that he really couldn't scratch off.

"Master Bright" asked Carter "Are you sure about letting Lucy out? She proved to be quite dangerous if she is uncontrolled."

"I have a better question yet." said Bright to Captain Carter "Why didn't I keep Lucy asleep in the first place? I could have simply told them that I would keep Lucy under anesthetics and that I would wake her up as soon as the raid would be a success. That would have been enough incentive to have all of their cooperation, including Nana's."

Carter looked at him with curiosity. "Well... yes that actually is a better question."

"Well... the reason is obvious enough. We are facing a total of sixty four diclonii locked in that facility. Some of them have vectors that go several meters long and have several dozens each one of them. If they are as deranged as Lucy herself showed to be, they can be a threat even to the Samsara soldiers. If they are more likely to listen to a diclonius, then we better have as many diclonii on our side as possible. If we only have one, then we would have to make double the effort to keep their hostilities to a minimum. If we have two, at least the effort will be reduced by half. Perhaps more, since Lucy and Nana seem to have an emotional bond, and will be far more likely to defend each other than if they were going only with Foundation personnel that neither of them has any interest in defending, or obeying."

"So you planned for this to happen? That her family would be the one pushing her to help our cause?"

"Planning... Hoping... What's the difference at this point? I have been manipulating the situation to the convenience of humanity and the Foundation, but what does that matter if they end up in a better position than what they started anyway? Lucy's and her family's best interests are aligned with the Foundation's. They just don't know it yet."

"Perhaps you should have started by explaining that to her and her family."

"Carter..." Bright smiled amused and said "Where would the fun be in that?" and his evil grin got wide as it can be and let out a quiet laughter.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as the reunion was over, Bright made his next call to the Foundation to report back the results for the day.

"Dr. Jack Bright, researcher level 4, iteration 19, on field duty at location temporarily designated as site 47. Temporary code   
3-5-3-R-A-G-D-O-L-L. Field report 09 - We are still awaiting for the preparations of the Foundation to be finished, and to recieve news about the participation of the rest of the Samsara soldiers in this mission. Both diclonii in our custody have agreed to participate in the raid, and will help in the containment of other diclonii in the case of their escape. Fortunately, the agressiveness of the diclonii seems to be radically reduced whenever they have strong emotional bonds with humans, this could prove an advantage in future containment protocols. Patient Zero, Lucy, seems to be the undeniable proof of this, since her agression seems to be under control since she was allowed to make a strong emotional connection with three humans alongside the silpelit Nana. Hopefully their participation in the raid will keep the number of casualties to a minimum in both sides. Never the less, the safety of the Foundation's personnel is a priority, and therefore lethal force should be authorized against any threat that we might encounter, humans, or SCPs. Lets hope Arakawa is still alive when we arrive, she is still our best option to contain this anomaly. That would be all. Doctor Jack Bright, out."

Bright looked out of the window. It was so late in the night. And even though he was tired, he stayed awake for a while more. Until he recieved an encripted message.

"To Dr. Bright, iteration 19. Irantu, confirmed. Nanku, confirmed. Onru, confirmed. This better be worth our time."


	23. Say Your Good Byes, Soldier Girls.

The dusk came and the sun shined. Lucy had been awaked by Munru alongside Nana. And now they were facing a long training day. The last before the raid.

With no time to lose, Munru pitted both of them against each other. Nana and Lucy were now clawed in an embrace, that would have been deadly if it were not just a training session. Lucy was finally using her strength sparingly, and Nana had a small advantage by having longer veectors than Lucy, but the latter had more experience and skill, so they were going head to head.

Lucy was more prone to use objects around her to do the fighting for her, while Nana still had too much of a direct approach, but she was a fast learner. Soon enough, Nana learned the most basic of the strategies that Lucy used quite often: if you have a shorter range, then stay away, and make your surroundings do the fighting for you. And only attack when there is a clear opening.

From Munru, they learned the advantage of using a higher position to attack, so learning to fall from the sky onto an unsuspecting enemy was a must. Not to mention staying hidden whenever you could, and until the moment when your enemy had defeated himself by being in the wrong place at the right time.

Using the forest to hide was strangely satisfactorial. Soon enough, they were getting on the other's nerves by playing on their own strenghts, while taking advantage of the weakness of the other. And yet... they were not ready.

Lucy was still trying to keep her mind at ease and not give in to the darkness, which still slowed her down. And Nana was taking it more like a game than something serious, so sometimes she giggled while hiding, and was spotted immediately.

"Nana, you have to start taking this seriously." scolded her Munru. "If tomorrow you get spotted for taking it as a game, it's going to cost you your life."

"I'm sorry." she said. "It's just that, I have never really had the opportunity to play outside for this long with anyone. Not really."

"I told you this is not a game." shot back Munru.

"Can't we just take a break?" asked Lucy "We've been here for hours."

"You'll get your break later."

"And if we refuse to go on?" asked Nana trying to be playful.

Munru aimed his canon at a tree and shot. The tree got immediately broken and on fire.

"Now imagine if tomorrow that is an enemy blast coming your way. Then you will regret that you refused to keep going on today. Get back on your feet, and keep it up."

Scared, Nana just nodded, and Lucy just accepted her compromise to the task.

"I think that it's time for you two to work together in a team. It will improve your mutual skills, by reinforcing each others weak spots. You will be trying to fence me off this time." Munru walked until he was facing both of them at a certain distance. "This round will be simple. You two will be hiding in the forest, and your job will be to take me down to the ground. And my job will be to hit you with a projectile. Don't worry about it, they are blank projectiles. You two can work together this time. You have five minutes."

Lucy and Nana took the decision of trying to make one distract Munru, while the other took him to the ground. Lucy decided to be the bait, and climbed above the trees. Nana did something similar, but she would stay hidden, while Lucy would move around to lure him to the trap. Simple enough, and a plan that might work.

Lucy started moving through the trees, and when shelocated Munru, she started making noises among the branches while she moved, so Munru started to chase her.

Munru finally spotted the pink color among the tree leaves, and shot his blank projectile, but it missed the first time... and the second time. Until, Lucy tried to fall over him from behind, but he managed to dodge it and aim again with his canon.

Lucy was then hit by Munru's blank projectiles, meaning that she had lost, and had to pretend to be dead, so for the time being she just took a sit beneath a tree and waited for this session to end.

Nana jumped down from the tree she was hanging from and landed over Munru's shoulders, but she did it in a way that she would end up riding him as a horse.

"Yayy!!!" yelled Nana with a wide smile as he tried to get her off from him. And then she fell to the ground, and quickly incorporated, laughing all the way.

"You are still not taking this seriously, Nana. And if you don't take this seriously, then I will have to show you what it actually means to be in danger." Munru aimed his canon, and this time he shot a live projectile at her feet.

Munru's projectile hit the ground and exploded. She had managed to take cover behind her vectors at the last second, but the explosion was strong enough as to push her backwards and she was crashed against a tree, and her right arm and left leg got disconnected from the rest of her body, and her body went entirely limp.

"Nana!" screamed Lucy in desperation and jumped immediately to aid her. Feeling her unconscious body in her hands, Lucy felt an almost murderous rage against Munru.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Munru then noticed that he had taken it too far. He got carried away by the heat of the moment, and actually hurted Nana. He came in closer and said "I'm sorry, it was a mistake. Let me help..." Lucy pushed him to the ground with her vectors.

"I think you've done enough!" Lucy gave him a dirty and angry look. A part of her was almost on the brink of losing control again, but then she tried to picture Nana smiling again.

Nana then opened her eyes. "W-what happened?"

"Nana..." Lucy felt a bit reliefed that she was awake, but maybe she was still hurt "Don't talk. I'll get you back inside." Lucy lift her up on her arms and carried her away, not without giving another dirty look at Munru that was getting up himself.

"We are done. We won't be training with you anymore." said Lucy as she walked back inside, leaving Munru with a very awkward sensation that he was not really accustomed to... shame.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy had taken Nana to the bedroom she had been assigned, and placed her on the bed, and the rest of the family gathered around to see if she was alright. Aside from the shock, and some minor bruising she seemed to be completely unharmed.

Lieutenant Munru later came in with Nana's arm and leg and tried to apologize, but they would still not go back to training again. Bright had tried to convince them too, but then decided that any further action would only tire them too much. So they should get the rest of the day off. They had already done what they could.

Under Bright's instructions, they would have to leave early in the morning to encounter the rest of the Foundation's forces near the beach from where they would initiate the attack.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday had gone quicker than what they would have liked, but there was no way to stop the implacable march of time. Lucy and Nana were awoken by some of the soldiers of the Foundation. It was still dark outside when it had happened. The rest of their family were also awake, since they wanted to speak to them before they would go to a battle from which there was no real way of knowing if they would come back.

Yuka's eyes were clearly filled with tears, even when she tried to pretend otherwise. "Please, take care of yourselfs, and protect each other." she told them as she hugged each of them with the sensation of a heavy heart pumping in her chest.

Mayu had been holding up quite well... that is until Nana hugged her and then Mayu felt the terror of never seeing her again, which made her embrace Nana more tightly and started crying. "I really don't want to lose you. To either one of you. Please come back to us."

Kouta was swallowing his own tears back, and kept up the false act of strength, until Lucy passed her hand over his face, and he started tearing up. "You still have the same debt to me, Lucy. Both of you are part of my family. You have to come back to us. Both of you."

Nana was still unsure of how to feel about the situation. On one hand she was going back to the place she knew since she was an infant. On the other, she hated it completely, and she knew that they would probably end up destroying it. And she was also leaving the only people she knew she could trust fully, and she still wasn't sure if she was ready for the assault. "I will do everything I can to return here. And I will protect Miss Lucy with everything I have so that she can return with me too."

As soon as Nana said those words Lucy felt two tears falling down her cheeks. "This family is my family. The only one I have ever had. I will do everything I can to protect it. And I swear that I will come back, and I will bring back Nana safe with me."

They all shared a last embrace, and then Bright took the two pink haired girls inside the Foundation's armored truck alongside the rest of the soldiers, including Munru, and Captain Carter. Only two soldiers were left behind to still guard on the other three black haired people that remained in the cabin.

And as the truck moved towards the horizon, uncertainty passed through the heart of all of them. But even in the middle of that terrible uncertainty, there remained the last sparkle of light: hope.


	24. The Raid 1: Preparations

The ride was quiet. The tension was in the air. It really did not help in the slightest that Bright and the rest of the personnel of the Foundation were still seeing Nana and Lucy as threats and not allies. Munru was the only one that showed any amount of trust towards them. Unfortunately, the reciprocity of that trust had been damaged the day before.

They came to a sudden stop. They were still not near enough to the beach, but they were isolated enough as to not be disturbed by any passersby. The back of the truck was opened and Bright told them all "Get out."

One by one they got out, and as they did, they saw many different vehicles, but not a single one was painted with the SCP-Foundation's logos or any reference to it. Instead, they were all seemingly civilian. Except for one... another different armored truck, that seemed to be equipped carrying cells for prisoners.

From the vehicles, several people came down, all of them dressed as civilians. But they all had something off about it. They looked a little bit too bulky. Lucy then realized that beneath the civilian clothing there was the armor of the SCP-Foundation. This was part of some convoluted cover.

Bright gathered everyone in a rectangular formation looking in his direction, and then took Nana and Lucy to the front.

"Everybody listen up." raised his voice Bright. "These two are the diclonii Lucy and Nana." he said pointing at them. "Memorize their faces, since they are the only SCPs of their kind that are on our side, and will not try to attack any of you on sight. They have agreed to aid us in this mission, and we will make sure to keep them as safe as possible. Nevertheless, if they attack any of us, you are allowed to fend them off using any means necessary. Still, their lifes will be important in case that there is a containment breach inside the facility we are about to raid because they might be able to communicate with other SCPs of their kind, so avoid any unnecessary conflict with them. In this mission we have several objectives to accomplish. Our first priority is to locate and rescue the Doctor Researcher Arakawa, a young woman of skinny complexity and dark hair, you should have received a document with her respective picture and detailed description before coming here. She is been held imprisoned somewhere in the facility."

"Our second priority" continued Bright "is to take over the facility itself, for this particular endeavor, we shall be dealing with the Chief Director Kakuzawa, a man of over fifty years old with white hair, and you must also have received a detailed description about him too, and for this purpose I shall give him a personal visit myself. The threats we will be facing are varied. There is a marine guard constantly patrolling the outskirts of the island in which the facility is located. The island's border is also heavily guarded by a terrestrial force. And then there is the facility itself which is a heavily reinforced structure of concrete and metal. The first two lines of defense can be broken by sheer brute force, but the structure of concrete and metal require an infiltration group that will open it from the inside, which again will be my duty to lead such group. Last but not least, the facility is designed to guard over sixty SCPs similar to these two, and that could breach containment either by accident, or in an attempt to use them as weapons. To understand how dangerous they can be, they will now participate on a demonstration."

Lucy and Nana were surprised by that, and Bright pointed a machinegun at them. "Cover yourselves with your vectors." He ordered them, and they immediately did so. "Ready. On three. One. Two. Three." He opened fire and the entirety of the bullets were stopped in the middle of the way and then fell to the ground. "As you can see, bullets are mostly innefective. If you are lucky you might get a good shot, but don't trust on it. Explosives such as rockets or grenades, or aerosolized chemical weapons such as sleeping gas will be far more effective. They posses a limited range of telekinetical power which can vary from a couple of meters to several dozens. We must try to minimize the number of diclonii casualties, but it's still our main priority to guard the safety of Foundation personnel, so deadly force is allowed but not encouraged against these SCPs."

"The infiltration group will be using the uniforms of the militia of the Diclonius Research Institute itself, and will be carrying Lucy and Nana inside two deactivated cages of containment from which they will be able to escape easily if the situation requires it, but that will be part of the cover to infiltrate. In other words, they are our trojan horse. Once the infiltration is succesful, a flare will be shot in the air and that will be your signal to begin the attack on the first two lines of defense and reach for the facility."

"Many of us may not survive today. But fear not, my friends, for we are the SCP Foundation. We are the guardians of humanity. We are the carriers of the light in the middle of the darkness. And we are the shield that keeps this threats at bay. We Secure. We Contain. We Protect. So let the monsters come at us. Let a thousand armies march against us, and we shall prevail. We will prevail. Humanity will survive, and we may one day be able to live in peace. Unfortunately, that day of peace has not come yet. So prepare yourselfs for battle, and prepare your weapons against the enemy. They will not show any mercy, and we must not show them any mercy. If anything attacks us, you must retaliate with full force. No mercy or contemplations. Victory awaits us, and achieveing victory is our duty, and therefore anything less than absolute victory will be unacceptable. So raise yourselfs against this threats, and raise your voices to be heard, for it may be the last time that you might be heard. But the message your voices carry shall live on in the hearts of your allies and your enemies, stricking courage on the firsts and a terrible fear on the latters. Forevermore!"

There was a roaring coming from the crowd in front of Lucy, Nana, and Bright. Both diclonii were impressed. They may not like Bright because he was a complete psychotic manipulator, but he was one hell of a speaker. They just hoped that he would be at least as good in the fighting scene.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Lucy. Nana." Called them Bright by the side. "You two are aware that your cooperation is absolutely necessary for this operation. Right?"

"Yes." said Lucy.

"Yeah..." answered Nana.

"And I hope that you understand that if you try to betray the Foundation, there will be consequences against your family. Right?"

Lucy and Nana looked at him with disdain and nodded.

"Good. Come with me. There are some people that you should meet."

Bright took them to a group of people that were standing in a closed circle. Four people in total, and the only ones that did not seemed to be using civilian clothing. Among them was Lieutenant Munru, and they were all using a similar armor to that of him, and with their movements they made a similar clunky metallic noise as him.

"Mobile Task Force Tau-Five: Samsara. Good morning." said Bright and the four people turned to look at them.

"Greetings, sir." said a man without a single hair over his head. "Captain Irantu, reporting for duty."

"Master Bright." said Munru using his usual long hair and beard. "Lieutenant Munru, armed and ready for battle."

"Good morning, Doctor Bright." Said a woman with short white hair in a mohawk. "Officer Nanku, at your service."

"Hello, Mister Bright." Said another woman with a black, long and curly hair. "Specialist Onru, ready for deployment."

Lucy looked at them and noticed that, despite the fact that Munru already had a certain appearance of strenght by just looking at him, when he was among the others, the entire group looked like emanating an undeniable sensation of power. It was quite disturbing to see them, and at the same time relieving to know that she had them on her side and not against her.

"Your main duty will be to ensure the containment of any unleashed diclonii in the facility." told them Bright "In order to ensure that, these two might be useful." he said refering to Lucy and Nana "However, there will also be the need to find Arakawa, whom I suspect will still be held among the containment cells of the diclonii. There will also be the need to reach the higher levels quickly to ensure the surrendering of the facility into the control of the Foundation as soon as possible. For this purposes to be accomplished, I suggest that you be divided in two groups, one to go down into the containment cells of the diclonii, and another to accompany me to the top levels."

Munru was the first to speak. "If you would allow me, sir, I would like to accompany Lucy and Nana, since they have been my students, and to some extent I feel responsible for their safety."

"So these are the two diclonii students that you mentioned." Said the curly headed woman called Onru. "They don't really strike me as impressive at all." She seemed to be trying to measure them. "I'm sure I could break both of them easily."

"Careful the words you use, Onru." said the bold man called Irantu. "You might end up having to swallow them later on." Irantu came closer to them. "Appearances can be deceptive." He smiled with a minimum level of maliciousness "Though perhaps not in this case."

"Perhaps." said the other woman with the mohawk, called Nanku, that started to look at them with a curious expression, like a wolf to a piece of meat. "However if they can be as dangerous as Munru suggested when they go all out, then it would certainly be worth to go on a fight against them. What do you say little girl? Do you think you could take on a real fight with me?" She passed her hand over Nana's head, and then immediately her arm was pushed away by one of her vectors.

"Get your hands off me, you weirdo." said Nana exasperated.

Lucy got closer to her too, and placed herself between Nanku and Nana. She looked at Nanku with a cold rage. "If any of you ever dare to lay a hand on her, I will shred you all to pieces."

Nanku laughed just over her breath. "Certainly they have a nice attitude. She is small but she doesn't let herself be pushed around. And the other seems fierce and ready to protect her. Sold. I want to go with them too."

"It sounds good to me." said Irantu. "Then that means that me and Onru will go with Doctor Bright. When the time comes. We will be awaiting for the signal, doctor Bright."

"Excellent. So it shall be, then." Finished Bright, and he took Nana and Lucy away.

As soon as they were out of the hearing range of the Samsaras, Bright simply said to the two diclonii "They insulted and threatened you. That means they liked you. It's a good signal."


	25. The Raid 2: Through The Gates of Hell

Sitting on a cold cell is always disturbing. But it is far easier to do so when you know that you can get out whenever you want. Lucy and Nana had been placed inside two containment cells, tied with chains and collars, but they could all be broken easily with their vectors. The cells themselves were transported onto a speed boat, where Bright and other three soldiers of the Maz Hatters would act as the only surviving crew of the battle against the two captured diclonii. They all looked quite tired since they had actually been in the battle, which is exactly what they have to look like since an actual hunt of two diclonii should be very tiresome, not to mention deadly.

Passing throught the first line of patrolling boats would have been harder, but Bright, using the body of Captain Botros of the Diclonius Research Institute would be dealing with them.

A coastal guard boat stopped them in the middle of the water, and from a speaker the voice of the unseen captain of the boat was heard "Identify yourselfs. This is government property. Only authorized personnel may pass beyond this point."

Bright used a loud speaker to communicate back. "Captain Botros reporting back from our duties. We have a special delivery Cargo for the Diclonius Research Institute."

There was a long pause for a moment, in which the crew of the other boat must have been checking on the identity of the man called Botros. And after a while, the other boat let it's voice roar again "You will be escorted into the island's coast and you will be checked there."

The Foundation's boat then followed the coastal guard, and was taken onto a reinforced port. A gate opened to allow the Foundation's boat through, and then the gate closed again, so now the boat was completely blocked from moving anywhere, except the wooden docks where they would have to unload the cages, and unboard themselves.

Soon enough they were surrounded by other soldiers of the Diclonius Research Institute. One of them peeked inside the cages, and saw the two pink haired women chained.

"How did you capture them?" said the soldier.

Captain Botros/Bright answered "It wasn't an easy job. I lost over twenty good men in a fight against them. Only we survived the fight." he said signaling the other three soldiers that had arrived with him.

"Are you sure they are properly restrained?"

"How else could we have brought them here? They are two murderous creatures after all."

"Great. Please go to the checking point to identify yourselfs. We will bring a couple of forklifts to carry the cages."

All four members of the Foundation were escolted by other soldiers of the Diclonius Institute towards a relatively small and enclosed building near the docks. A total of seven soldiers were surrounding them.

"So, captain Botros, right?" said the tallest of the other soldiers.

"Affirmative, sir." answered Bright.

"According to our information you and your team were deployed three days ago to go and find these diclonii. We have not recieved any information from you since then. What happened?"

"All communication systems were damaged during the first day of chasing them. We found them in a house at the center of the Kamakura Area. They had killed an entire family to inhabit there, and joined forces to guard one another." That was only a half truth at best. "Somehow their combined vectors seem to have an altering effect on electronics. We were not able to establish communication after the first encounter, and then we spent over twenty four hours searching for them, since they managed to escape from the first house." That was a complete lie.

"Their combined vectors can affect electronics? That seems as an odd effect. Well, we barely let them be close to one another, so I suppose any interaction between them is minimum. Still, it strikes me as very odd that nobody has detected any such effect before..."

"We were very surprised by it too... But no matter, since they are already captured, right?"

"Right..." the soldier seemed a bit suspicious. "Anyway, we are going to need your respective identifications before you can procede into the facility."

"Of course." said Bright "Gentlemen, please show them your identifications."

Immediately, all the members of the Foundation, including Bright, took out a white plastic card from within their clothes, held it in front of the face of a different soldier, and pressed a button that opened a double compartment on the card, and after a second or two, they released the button and the double compartment was closed again. Immediately, the three soldiers accompanying Bright aimed their silenced-guns at the head of the other three soldiers that had not seen the cards, and shot.

After a couple of seconds more, the four soldiers that had stared at the opened cards started trembling, then their bodies fell to the ground and started having seizures while a white foam was formed on their mouths. Clear markings of the full effects of the memetic kill agent they had just stared at. No witnesses. No survivors. No sounds.

Bright and the other three soldiers walked out of the small building and walked back towards the docks, where the cages of Lucy and Nana had already been placed over two forklifts by another group of soldiers that had started moving them uphill towards the entrance of the facility. The four members of the Foundation remained close to the forklifts at all times, until they reached the main gate of the building of metal and concrete. The main gate, which was big enough as to let a huge train pass comfortably through it, opened wide, and allowed the whole group to enter, and then the gate was closed shut.


	26. The Raid 3: Lockdown

As they walked inside, they found themselves inside an enormous room that had several soldiers inside, including five of them on metallic ramps that were above their heads. All of the soldiers were carrying machineguns at their sides. Bright immediately started searching for a way to reopen the door to let the Foundation forces inside. But he noticed that there was no direct way to open it from the room itself. There must have been some other external control for it.

Bright got closer to one of the soldiers of the Diclonius Institute that had entered alongside them.

"Hey." said Bright to him.

"Hey Botros. Haven't seen you in a while." said the soldier. Obviously he had known the body that Bright was utilizing before he would have taken over.

"Yeah... you know how things go in this business. First you are having a good time with your friends, and the next thing you know is that you find yourself in the middle of a war. By the way, how exactly does this door works? Is it automatic or something?"

"Aren't you supposed to know that already?" he answered giving him a suspicious look.

"It obviously doesn't open from here, so how does it open?" insisted Bright.

"From the control room." the soldier gave Bright a weird look. He should have already known that.

"Alright... where is it?"

"You are asking too many questions, Botros. Questions you should already know the answer to."

"Take it easy, I have come from a very hard battle against these diclonii. Give me a break." he said trying to dodge the questioning.

"It is interesting that you managed to bring them here with only three more guys, while the rest of your forces were killed. How did you do that exactly?"

"The bazooka blasters were effective enough. On the other hand, why are you so interested? Are you going to try to steal the credit for it? Is that it?"

"Don't you dare question my honor, Botros. We may not be in the same pelotoon, but I am still a rank above you. So watch your tongue."

"Your honor?" said Bright getting exasperated. "Since when do you have one?"

The other soldier grabbed Bright by the shirt... a terrible idea, since he accidentaly touched the border of the SCP-963, and he dropped dead instantaneously.

"Oh, God damn it. Weapons! Lucy! Nana! Now!" yelled Bright.

Lucy and Nana broke the containment cells immediately, and threw their vectors to the nearest soldiers around them. Each of their vectors embraced one of the soldiers tighly as to keep them immobilized, but they were not killed by them. At least not yet. Bright and the other three soldiers aimed their guns at the enemy soldiers that were the farthest from them and shot them. The enemy firing started too, even when they were confused as to what had just happened.

"What the hell?!" yelled one of the soldiers on the ramps on top, "Diclonii on the loose! Shoot them down!" he then aimed his machinegun and opened fire over the two diclonii, and soon enough the other soldiers over the top floors did the same. In an instinctive impulse, Lucy and Nana moved their vectors to protect themselves, unfortunately, this meant that the soldiers they were holding recieved the bullets instead of them, soon enough they were dead. Lucy then threw the dead bodies of the soldiers towards the ones that had opened fire. Nana could not do it so, simply because she didn't really wanted to harm anyone. Lucy then jumped over towards the ramps, and cut off the heads of the ones that had opened fire. Interestingly enough, she did so with more cruelty and spite on the ones that had fired over Nana.

Two of the Foundation soldiers were gunned down, but Bright managed to subjugate two soldiers by shooting them on the knees, and the last Foundation soldier apart from Bright managed to subjugate one more by holding him at gun point on the head. They quickly removed the weapons they had.

"WARNING. HOSTILE INTRUDERS ARE INSIDE THE FACILITY. THE FACILITY IS NOW ON LOCKDOWN." said a robotic voice that resounded all over the building, while repeating the same words on a loop, and the alarm that started alongside it was deafening.

Other military forces would be coming soon enough. There was no time to spare, and the door was now jammed. It was too hard to be opened by brute force, even with Lucy and Nana using their vectors. The other soldiers must know how to open it, or so thought Bright.

Bright got closer to one of the three captured soldiers, and dragged him by the neck to the front.

"You will take us to the control room." ordered Bright to the soldier. "We might let you live afterwards."

"You are a traitor to your own kind, Botros. You are working with these diclonii, now? They will bring the destruction of humanity and you are helping them. Have you gone mad?"

"I am not Botros, I have been mad for longer than what you could imagine, these diclonii are not trying to do that, and you have been decieved by Chief Kakuzawa. I can't really explain anything more than that, so will you please take us to the control room, or I shoot you here and find it myself. Either way I will get there. So save your ass at least."

"Fuck you."

"Shame." Bright shot him in the back of the head.

He picked another soldier from the line. "You will take us to the control room. We might let you live afterwards." the exact same words as before. That repetition was somehow terrifying, for it showed that the words themselves were not picked at random. And yet...

"Go to hell. I won't betray humanity."

Bright aimed his gun again to the back of his head, but then the gun was taken away from him by an invisible force. Lucy had taken the gun away from him.

"That's enough, Bright." Said Lucy in a defiant tone.

"What the hell are you doing?!" said Bright to the diclonius. "We need to find that information."

"And how are you going to get it from a bunch of dead people?"

"One of them is going to break. They always break."

"And if they don't? If you knew that the well being of the world was resting on your shoulders, and that your silence is better for everyone rather than your cooperation, would you do it? would you speak? would you betray the humanity you claim to protect?"

Bright was perplexed... had Lucy just one-upped him? "I guess not... At least I would try not to."

"Then that means that these men may not break so easily." Lucy got closer to the soldier that was being held by Bright, and looking at him in the eyes she spoke. "I know you believe that I am a monster. I know you believe that all the diclonii are monsters that will destroy the world. I used to believe that too. But that is a lie that has been spreaded by the director of this facility. You have been lied to and manipulated. And in your attempt to save humanity from destruction you are just helping a mad man to bring over that same destruction. If you want to save the people you care about, then help us. Tell us where the control room is, and let us go on with our mission."

"And if I refuse?" said the soldier

"You know you will die. But you don't care about it. But if we fail this mission... all the people that you have ever met... every man, woman or child that you have ever cared for, will be dead within twenty years. And that is something you do care about."

"How do I know that you are not lying?"

"You have been told that all diclonii are so agressive that no human should be able to be near one without getting killed. Why is it then that all this men are alive around us? Why are you still breathing? Why would I have saved your life?"

The soldier looked at the diclonius before him... she had saved his life... Could it be? Had they been lying?

"If I help you, would you let me go?"

Lucy looked at Bright and he nodded.

"Yes." she said.

The soldier looked still conflicted but he spoke "Down the hallway to the right there is a staircase. Go upstairs, and take the third door to the right. The password to the door is 1-4-0-8."

Bright signaled at the last of his soldiers and he went on running towards that place. A couple of extra gun shots were heard, and a couple of seconds later the door was finally opened again.

"Well, buddy." said Bright to the soldier "You'll get to see another day. And rest assured that you did the right thing. Even if you don't know it yet. Now get the hell out of here."

The soldier started walking away...

"You fucking TRAITOR!!!" screamed the last soldier that had been captured, pulled out a knife he had hidden, and sticked it in the other soldier's neck.

Bright immediately aimed his machinegun and shot the last captured soldier.

"Oh, God damn it... such a waste." said Bright. "Well, no use on crying when the milk is spilled."

Bright walked just outside of the gate, and fired a red flare that was seen by the rest of the Foundation's Mobile Task Forces. As soon as he did, they were once again surrounded by more soldiers of the Diclonius Institute.

Lucy and Nana were able to cover themselves with their vectors, and Bright managed to take cover behind one of the forklifts.

Lucy got closer to Nana, to make sure that not a single bullet would touch her... unfortunately, this time there were not just bullets coming their way. A rocket launcher was aimed at their position, and the blast came their way. Lucy, in a panic, pushed Nana away, and her own vectors recieved the full blast, throwing her to the ground, barely conscious.

Nana screamed in desperation. Fear and rage overtook her, and she started slashing her way through the enemy soldiers, until she reached the one with the rocket launcher, and shredded him to pieces. She had not wanted to harm anyone... until somebody had hurt someone she cared about.

More and more enemies came pouring down the doors around them. Bright could not aim his machinegun or any other weapon directly without risking getting shot, so he started using hand grenades that he threw in the direction from were the soldiers seemed to be arriving. Lucy and Nana kept tearing them apart... but then the soldiers started to overwhelm them.

Bright had runned out of grenades, and Lucy and Nana were now facing several rocket launchers, and to avoid being harmed they had to dodge the rockets at every turn. But then more were being thrown, and in order to have a chance at surviving, they got together against a corner, and placed all their vectors surrounding them. It was barely enough... the blasts were too powerful... and now they were trapped. A group of soldiers came in front of Bright and aimed their machineguns. Bright closed his eyes and heard gun shots.

When Bright opened his eyes, he saw the group of soldiers dead at his feet, and behind them the ferocious faces of the Mobile Task Force Zeta-9: The Mole Rats, getting through the opened gate with their own weapons in their hands. The battle was far from over... it has barely just begun...


	27. The Raid 4: Prisoner Number One

The Mole Rats engaged the Diclonius Institute's militia, and managed to drive them back, holding them long enough as to let Lucy and Nana abandon the corner where they had been forced into, and they moved to Bright's position.

Through the gate, at the distance, they saw four figures fighting at the military base in the border of the island. And the patrolling boats of the coastal guard were set ablaze and sinking slowly to the bottom of the ocean... they never stood a chance.

"Now what, Bright?" asked Lucy.

"We need to get to the control room now. We need information on how to reach the containment cells and the headquarters. There are probably cameras there."

Nana looked over to where the last soldier of the Maz Hatters had gone to... the path was filled with enemy soldiers.

"The path is blocked."

Bright smiled with his evil grin, and said "I have an idea to reach that hallway... it's good that you got here. Do you see this forklifts?"

"Yeah..." said Nana.

"Well... they used them to carry you here... I think it's time to make them carry all of us a bit further..."

"What?"

"Use your vectors to throw the forklifts at the soldiers, and clear the pathway." he said with eyes widening and a laughter.

Lucy and Nana exchanged looks, and silently agreed. In an instant, half a dozen enemy soldiers were slammed and crushed by half a ton of metal heading over them.

Lucy and Nana started running towards the hallway, and Bright followed them closely, staying just behind them, knowing full well that they were wearing their vectors as shields, and he was using them as his shield. The reached the hallway and went running the stariway, until they reached the third door to the right that had already been open. Inside, they found the last Maz Hatter lumping against the control panels, bleeding alongside several dead bodies around him.

"What happened, soldier?" asked Bright.

"I opened the gates... got surrounded... I shot the enemy, and kept control of the doors... I'm not feeling so well..." said the soldier and fell to the ground, and did not moved again.

"Shit... Rest in peace soldier."

Bright got closer to the control panels and started typing away on them. Eventually he found what he was looking for.

"The elevators are jammed since it's a lockdown. There is a central staircase that goes up into the headquarters, and the only way to go down is through a spiral pathway that passes through every containment cell. This is going to be a party." But coming from Bright, 'party' could just mean problems. "We have to go back to the area where we came from, the entrance to the stairway and the containment cells can be reached from there."

As soon as they got out, and found themselves back in the entrance, The Mole Rats had gained control of the area. But now the doors that lead into the upwards-staircase and the downward-spiral where closed... but not for long.

"Master Bright." called Munru from the side, who had finally arrived alongside the rest of the Samsaras.

"Samsaras, it's so good to have you here." said Bright to them. "We have to go through these doors. We are going to need to break them."

"On it, sir..." Munru and Onru went each to a door, inspected them and noticed that they were also reinforced, but not nearly as resillient as the main gate. With the proper effort they could be broken.

"Lucy. Nana." called Munru "When I tell you to, hit this door to break it down." Munru's arm turned into a blowtorch and placed it over the hinges of the door, until they were glowing red. "Onru. Liquid nitrogen." Onru's right hand started throwing a liquid substance that got immediately vaporized as soon as it touched the red hinges. "Lucy, Nana, bring it down."

The metal was weakend by the process, and when the vectors het the door, the hinges were blown and broken, throwing the door to the floor. They repeated the process on the other one.

Bright gathered two couples of Mole Rats and sent them throug each door. Immediately, the ones that had gotten through the stairacse where set on fire by an incendiary weapon placed in the wall. As for the ones that went down the spiral, they went in with little effort.

"Lucy, Nana, go down the spiral with Munru and Nanku, and take more soldiers of The Mole Rats with you. Find Arakawa, and bring her alive. Even if it means that you have to visit every single containment cell." said Bright. "Irantu, Onru, you come with me. We are going to play a little visit to chief Kakuzawa."

"Where should I go to, sir?" asked a very grim looking Captain Carter who had arrived alongside the rest of the militia.

"Carter..." Bright looked at him and noticed he was very, very upset. "You are the last standing Maz Hatter, and the leader of the group. Your knowledge and experience would be requiered the next time that we try to reform your team. You should go home. You should have gone home already."

"Like Hell I Won't!!!" said Carter enraged. "My entire team is dead! And I will have my revenge on the bastards responsible for it!"

Bright thought about it... he couldn't have him running around in the mental state he was showing, he would have been shooting people in the headquarters, since they might come in handy later. On the other hand, if he went downstairs, he could start to try to slaughter the diclonii with little to no provocation... What do to? In the long run, the members of the headquarters could be more useful. And the diclonii can fend him off more easily with their vectors... less risky.

"You are going to go with Lucy's group. Down to the containment cells. And Carter..."

"What?"

"Try to not get yourself killed."

The first group went into the door, and down the spiral. Bright picked a rocket launcher and used it to destroy the incendiary weapon on the staircase, selected a few more Mole Rats, while a small extra group remained in the entrance to keep it clear, and they went inside the staircase.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy and Nana saw the known corridors, and felt eerily disturbed by them. The top chambers were the experimentation rooms. They were stained with blood everywhere. But more perturbating of all, was that it was filled with people in white coats that were entirely aware of the inhumane treatment that the diclonii had been submitted to, and did nothing to prevent it. 'To save humanity' was their justification. How was that supposed to happen if they never even understood that the diclonii were human and treated them as less than human, and the white-coat-wearing idiots lost their humanity in the process.

Hatred filled Lucy's heart towards this place and sadness layed inside Nana's. So much pain. So many lives lost in here, including a part of their own.

Lucy picked inside one of the experimentation rooms. There were three people inside in lab coats, and a silpelit, of about five years old tied up against the wall inside another inner chamber, in front of a cannon designed to test the endurance of the vectors, and how long the diclonii could remain awake and focused while they were under attack. Since the lockdown, they had stopped the experiment, but had nowhere to go so they remained trapped inside the labs.

Lucy and Nana felt a calling from inside... a calling that was a cry 'Please, let me die.' said the feelings coming from the silpelit chained to the wall.

Lucy had an impulsive burst of anger, and threw herself inside the laboratory, and pushed every person inside against a wall using her vectors.

"Release her." she ordered to one of them.

"You wouldn't let us live even if we did what you told us." he gave her a smirk, and managed to press a button on a control panel that passed an electrical current through the chains in the wall. A screaming of agony came from the chamber where the silpelit was tied up. And then she went quiet... forever... her wish had been granted, and now she was dead.

Lucy felt horrified for it, the rage invaded her entire body, and she slashed every single white coat in her reach. And then kept on slashing at their dead bodies over and over again. Her vectors then found themselves stopped by another invisible force... Nana walked over to her with tears in her eyes, and hugged Lucy, trying to calm her down. Lucy felt the embrace and broke down crying. Another life lost.

"I felt it too." declared Nana who was now crying also.

"Stop crying. We need to move on." said Nanku coldly.

"Don't you have any compassion in your heart?" asked Lucy enraged.

"My feelings are not very well callibrated." answered Nanku with a calmed but firm voice "Sometimes I have the wrong emotional reaction to a situation, so I prefer to ignore feelings altogether. So move it."

Lucy and Nana looked at Nanku with despise, let go of their embrace, and walked out. There was still a long way ahead, and with company like this, the journey might seem even longer.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

While Lucy and the rest of her group walked down the corridors, they found many people in lab coats, and Lucy really wanted to slash them in pieces one by one, but she was on a mission, and there was no time to hunt them down. This time it wasn't because of the voice of the virus, but out of sheer resentment towards their inhumanity.

They were surprised by how small was the amount of soldiers they found in their way throught the laboratories. The few soldiers unfortunate enough to find themselves in their way had been quickly dispatched by Carter that simply opened fire over anybody who was wearing either a military uniform, or had a weapon in their hand... or a pencil, which in this case he also regarded as a weapon. That is until they reached the actual containment cells.

\-------- Prisoner 1 --------

Munru, and Nanku used a similar method as before to break open the containment door. Inside, they found two guards that opened fire on the group. Lucy and Nana used their vectors to deflect the bullets, and Carter shot them both in the head. As they entered, they noticed the metallic cage with a silpelit at its center, at around seven years old, and many scars on her face. Lucy and Nana could feel her anguish.

Nana approached her first, and with one of her vectors she removed the muffle from her mouth.

"Hi." said Nana, unsure of what to do with her.

"Are you going to hurt me?" said the silpelit, since she was used to being experimented on everytime she got out of her cage. So to some extent she usually prefered to be inside the cage rather than being taken out.

"No. Ahm... Lucy... could you help me here?" Nana was almost begging for her help.

Lucy looked at the silpelit and felt a terrible sorrow and compassion. This feeling was felt by the silpelit and she knew that they were not going to harm her, or at least they were not trying to.

"Hello." said Lucy "Do you have a name?"

"Everybody just calls me Ichi." (japanese for 'one')

"Ichi, would you like to be released from here?"

"My mamma always told me that she would get me out of here. Did she sent you here for me?"

"Who is your mamma?" asked a very confused Lucy, since she knew that not a single diclonii in here was allowed contact with anybody that would dare to show them any type of affection or give them any form of hope, since the director needed to feed their hate on humans. Nana being the only exception, but that had been to manipulate Kurama.

"I have heard the others calling her Arakawa. She sings to me. She is the only one that treats me nice. Everyone else just causes me a lot of pain. Are you going to get me out? Is my mamma with you?"

Lucy looked at the silpelit and felt her heart crushing. This silpelit had no idea of who she was or what life was like outside... perhaps she has spent her whole life here.

"We are friends of your mamma. And we will get you out." said Lucy.

"Lucy, No." said Munru firmly. "We were sent to rescue Arakawa, we cannot release the silpelits. What if they go berserk?"

"Am I supposed to simply let her here?!" said Lucy enraged.

"Yes." said Munru unmoving. "Our priority is rescuing Arakawa, and then taking over the facility. Once the facility is under the Foundation's control we might consider what to do with the silpelits, but for now its too dangerous to let them out."

"Priority?" said Lucy getting extremely angered "This girl has been put through hell, the same hell I was put through, and also Nana. And you expect me to simply ignore her?"

"Yes. You must!"

"To hell with that!" In a second, Lucy used her vectors and broke the entire cage in a single go. The two Samsara soldiers aimed their weapons it the direction of the fallen cage.

"WARNING. PRISONER NUMBER 1 HAS BREACHED CONTAINMENT." said the same robotic voice as before "MILITARY FORCES ARE IN THEIR WAY TO NEUTRALIZE IT."

"Shit!" said a frustrated Carter to Lucy. "Look what you just did!" and he took cover behind the wall of the entrance awaiting for the arrival of new enemies.

The little silpelit realized that she was finally able to use her vectors freely, and broke the cage into pieces. She tried to incorporate, and when she fell to the ground, Nana went over to try to lift her up.

"Nana! Stand aside." Ordered Munru still aiming his canon at the silpelit. "If she attacks we will be forced to shoot."

"Please! Wait!" said Nana. "This is why you brought us here, to communicate with other diclonii, right? Well, let us try it... at least this once."

"We still need to find Arakawa. And we cannot waste any more time. And soon enough we are going to be surrounded by..."

"Intruders!" said a man behind them "They are releasing the diclonii!", he aimed his gun at Munru, but before he could pull the trigger, Carter took him out from the side. And through the hallway they heard footsteps coming their way.

Nanku and Munru changed their weapons into the gatling guns and got ready for the incoming fight.

A dozen soldiers came from the door, and opened fire on anyone they saw. First they shot at Munru and Nanku who managed to dodge the shots, by avoiding the positions where the tips of the machineguns were aiming. At the same time, the aimed their own gatling guns and opened fire.

Lucy had managed to cover herself with her vectors and started jumping towards Nana and the new silpelit by her side. Unfortunately, Nana covered herself with her vectors but did not fully covered Ichi with them. So when the bullets came flying their way, one of them reached Ichi in the arm. Blood spilled over the floor, the pain began again, and she kicked Nana to the side, thinking that maybe it had been their plan to harm her from the start.

The silpelit was scared, and angry... and alone. Lucy could feel her emotions as clear as she had felt her own not so long ago. She knew what was coming.

"I... I..." Ichi's voice was broken, and her stare became cold and distant... "I will destroy this world. And from its ashes I will make my own!" The voice of the virus had taken her over. The cold wind generated by the movement of her vectors left no doubt that this one was going to destroy anything in her path.

Ichi hit Nana with one of her vectors at full speed, but she was covered with her own, which protected her from the direct harm, but threw her against the front wall.

The rest of the Foundation's members were focused on the soldiers in their way that kept on arriving, and had not noticed the uncontrolled silpelit behind them. So it was up to Lucy to do something.

She moved at full speed towards the silpelit, with vectors at the ready, and she felt the other one's coming for her, but she managed to push them away with her own. In the end, Lucy placed one of her vectors though ichi's chest, hand pushed her heart outside of her body.

Ichi's body went completely limp, and her vectors were turned off. Her eyes met with Lucy's, as she was still alive but not for long.

"I'm sorry." said Lucy tearing up. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I am so sorry."

"Ma...ma" was the last word that came from Ichi's mouth before her stare went completely blank.

Lucy felt a horrible burning sensation in her chest, as if it would have been her heart the one that got ripped out from her ribcage. She held the dead remains of the silpelit between her arms and cryied over them. Why? Lucy almost didn't know her. Ichi would have killed all of them if she would not have been stopped. Why did it feel so wrong to have killed her? Because she didn't mean to be a monster. Because she had just had a bad start at life. Because she was almost exactly the same as Lucy, and when she killed her, she felt as if she would have been killing herself.

"Lucy..." said Nana from behind her. "Is she... dead?"

Lucy could not speak, it was too painful to do so. She tried to regain her composture, and then turned her head to see the scene behind her. The Diclonius Institute had managed to gun down three members of the Mole Rats, but there was still another five of them alive. The Samsaras and Carter were also alive, even though they had used a lot of ammo. Lucy incorporated, and before she would walk away, she hugged Nana tightly.

When Munru and the others noticed the dead silpelit in the corner, Munru said to Lucy "I hope this does not repeat again. The next time leave the silpelits in their cages. We are here to rescue Arakawa. We will take charge of the prisoners later."

Lucy nodded ashamed and hurt. They kept walking down the spiral, but now there were more soldiers in their way, that they had to fight through to keep going.


	28. The Raid 5: The Fall of Chief Kakuzawa

Bright, Onru and Irantu broked through the entirety of the staircase. The Mole Rats themselves had been of great help by spotting hidden traps alongside the way, since they were used to raiding buildings and enclosed places. The soldiers coming downstairs were also a threat since fighting from height is easier since you can simply drop a grenade and cause a lot of damage. Unfortunately for them, Irantu and Onru were in no mood to take none of it, and they usually managed to hit the grenade back before reaching downwards. Bright had stolen a rocket launcher from the dead soldiers and used it to break several barricades placed along the way. The staircase had also been made of reinforced materials and was able to resist most of the destructive power, but even with all of this, at some points it had been severely damaged.

By the end of it all, they reached the top floor, with almost no casualties on their side, except for one Mole Rat that had taken the blast of the first grenade that was thrown.

The majority of the staff were too scared to do anything, except for the militia itself, so they were mostly ignored by the Foundation members.

At the end of the hallway there was an enormous door made of wood and it was heavily decorated. There was no doubt that it was the main office from where Chief Director Kakuzawa lead this entire facility.

Bright oredered Irantu to bring it down, and he forcefully broke it in pieces with a single cannon blast.

As soon as the door was taken down, they found Chief Kakuzawa sitting calmedly at his desk, pouring himself a glass of fine liquor.

At first he looked at the invaders and pushed a button beneath his desk. Immediately there was a sensation of the ground moving beneath the island, and the sound of a distant and powerful explosion somewhere. Then through the window, they all saw several rockets leaving the island and heading towards the mainland.

Chief Kakuzawa then pressed a series of other buttons beneath his desk, which of course nobody seemed to notice, except for himself.

"I was wondering if you would actually manage to break through the entire facility." said Kakuzawa quite calmed down. "I welcome all of you SCP Foundation."

"So Arakawa has told you about us, huh?" said Bright with a slightly less amused smile this time.

"Of course." said Kakuzawa. "I wasn't sure if you could actually defeat my army, but I asure you I took precautions in the case that it would be so."

Bright started calculating the situation "Really? And I thought that we were confronting an idiot." If he was right about this man, this would be enough.

Kakuzawa looked at him with pure contempt. "Insults are really not necessary here. After all the war between humanity and diclonii will begin soon enough."

"Really? I don't think that will come to happen. The SCP Foundation has already made sure of that."

"Oh you think so." said Kakuzawa with an evil smile drawn on his face. If you would have looked at the scene it would be hard to tell whom of the two men had the most evil smile. "I believe that this war is just about to begin." He looked outside the window and stared at the trail of smoke left by the rockets. "It's absolutely magnificent. Seeing the work of generations come to fruition."

Irantu started to walk towards Chief Kakuzawa, but Bright stopped him from going too far, and just signaled him that they should remain quiet.

"My great grandfather, my grandfather, my father, me and my son. We all worked through time and hardships to reach this very moment. Behold the end of an era and the begginning of a new one. Would you like to know what those rockets carry, mister... ahm... Bright, correct?"

"Yeah... Bright." answered Bright. "What are you talking about? Even if you destroy the city with those, it would not start a war between diclonii and humans."

"Ah, but that is where you are mistaken sir Bright, you see," Kakuzawa kept on talking "those are not explosives that they are carrying. They have a modified version of the diclonius virus. A modification based on the virus of the original carrier, 'Lucy' you might call her. My great grandfather had the vision that we would be the creator of a new world, and my grandfather built the necessary fortune to do so. My father himself studied genetics and virology to develop the diclonius virus based on our DNA." Chief Kakuzawa removed the wig he was wearing to reveal the horns on his head. "He taught me everything he knew, and then I did the same with my son. I perfected the virus and released it over a female partner of mine decades ago. She was the one that birthed Lucy, and then she began to spread the DNA of my family all over the city. My foolish son thought that he could control the diclonius by developing a vaccine or a cure. He was a fool, the diclonii cannot be controlled. They must not be controlled. His stupidity became his demise."

"The virus creates the compulsion to kill and infect humans. It gives them a minimum telepathic comunication between them which turns them more likely to cooperate between them, and their vectors makes them far stronger than any inferior human. There was only a downside to it. The sterility of the silpelits was an unforseen effect. That is why there was the need to capture Lucy again. Because her strain of the virus is untouched. And using her, I was able to develop a new strain. Better than the last. A strain that will generate fertile diclonii. I am the one that succeeded. I have finally achieved the dream of generations." He looked at Bright and with a malicious grin he smiled and said "The diclonius will replace humans, and in two centuries, maybe three, or even a millenium, all humans would have died out, and the diclonii will look back to their past and think of me as their creator. They will worship me as their god. They will forever uphold my name in altars and sing songs inspired by me. And the new humanity would forever be my servants."

"And finally, I have just unleashed the diclonii I have been creating here. They will begin a slaughter of the old humanity, and will begin the separation between humans and diclonii, which will lead to the alienation and hatred of the newlyborn diclonii, and this will ignite the hatred for the old humanity in the new diclonii that will be born. And alongside the voice of the virus, they will all come together to destroy the old humans and begin the new era."

"So you see mister Bright," said Chief Kakuzawa with a wide psychotic smile on his face. "You cannot stop the next step in human evolution. The full virus is already free. The people of the world will be infected in no time, and the future of the human race will be extinction, only to be replaced by the superior Diclonius race."

"I kept Arakawa alive to see if I could use her to control the silpelits for a while longer. Maybe I would have killed her in front of every other silpelit that she had taken care of, only to feed their hatred towards humans even more. But she had been trying to continue the development of the cure behind my back. That is something that I cannot allow. Funny thing is, if she would have succeeded, the cure would have been effective even against the new strain I developed. But it doesn't matter. Her body has been already too damaged and she will die soon."

"Miss Arakawa will be dead soon, so you will never develop a cure in time. So go ahead, do what you must. I have already won. The new Diclonii race will arise, and I shall become the God of the new world!"

Everyone in the Task Forces around Bright stayed quiet and scared. And the silence was interrupted by a laughter. A deep, manical laughter. At first you might have thought it would be Chief Kakuzawa who would be laughing, but it wasn't him. It was no other than Jack Bright. His laughter scared everyone around him, especially Chief Kakuzawa. What was so funny about it? He had lost, didn't he?

His laughter stopped, just as suddenly as it had started. And with the widest of his own smiles he spoke.

"Do you realize how stupid you were just by telling me your whole plan?" said Bright to him. "Seize him, and hold him on the ground. But don't harm him. I have something to tell him." he ordered the Task Force members. And so they held him, and made him kneel.

Bright started walking around him, looking like a shark with a delicious fish he had caught "Let me see if I got this straight. You created a virus that turns the infected into agressive creatures prone to attack humans, and you tortured them using humans at your service so that they would feel justified in their hatred, however they also know that you are the one in charge of this operation, so they will hate on you too. But you also want to be remembered by them as their god and creator, and that they somehow end up loving your role in their existence, despite the fact that you have given them every reason to absolutely detest you and hate on the existence you gave them. Then the virus itself turns the children of the infected into the dangerous entities, not the direct first generation of infected ones in the first place. Which means that we will have at least several months before the first newlyborn threats begin appearing. Not only that, but the very characteristics that make the infected dangerous do not manifest until years later in their development. Then you tell us that Arakawa had been very close to actually cure the entire thing, including the released strain that you threw into the world. But she has already given us the majority of the information on her research, so even if she dies here, the Foundation can and will develop a cure, far before we see the first infected manifesting their vectors."

Bright laughed because Kakuzawa was not the master mind he thought he was. He was just a megalomaniacal idiot with a god complex, and he was going to make damn sure that he would know it, in his most elegant, obnoxious, and mocking style.

"Aside from that, I can think of a hundred different ways to contain whatever infection you could have thrown out there even without the cure itself. Arakawa is our most easy and simple option but she is far from being the only one. Maybe we will seal off the cities with the biggest numbers of diclonii and nuke them down. Maybe we can make sure that every diclonius be emotionally attached to any particular person, and then coerce them into submission, as this has been most effective in the past, with both diclonii I have been in contact with. Maybe we could ensure that their parents be controlled by Foundation staff, and brainwash the diclonius to hate on the voice of the virus so that THEY are the ones to seek for a cure for themselves, or at the very least make them less likely to turn against humans. Maybe we could capture them all, and shoot them even before they develop their vectors." Bright took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Or maybe, I will just take over your body, and make the entire personnel at your service start serving the great purpose of thwarting your own plans. Wouldn't it be a beautiful irony that it is YOUR OWN BODY the one that stops your plans? If that is the case, even if we would fail in containing the virus, I would have the simple satisfaction of knowing that I took away the only dream you have ever had: the diclonius would NEVER see you as a god, but only as an enemy, just like humanity already does."

Chief Kakuzawa was completely thunderstruck. He had screwed up. He had underestimated the Foundation, and the enemy he was facing. He started sweating, and could not think of anything to say.

"You see, at The Foundation we have standards. We do not put highly trained personel in the same cages as the dangerous anomalies that we contain, unlike you did, losing thousands of dollars in the training of new personnel, and the pure intelectual loss that their dead brings alongside it. We only put prisoners that were sentenced to death row in peril. We do not put our own personnel against us by putting in jeopardy the people they care for on purpose, so that they eventually start betraying our cause from the inside, unlike you did. We do not use bullets against creatures that we know are invulnerable to them, and if we know that they are far more vulnerable to either explosions, electricity, or sleeping gas, you can be well asured that we will use THOSE as their containment protocols, and they would all be part of the basic training and weaponry of the guards in charge of watching over them, unlike what YOU DID."

He took another deep breath and continued. He was still not finished in ripping apart the deluded stupidity of this man.

"No wonder why you could not contain Lucy in this place to begin with. I am amazed that you didn't have a containment breach every hour. And no wonder that this entire facility is completely filled with incompetent people, because it's not really their fault, since the guy that is supposed to lead them is a complete, and ulter MORON!!!" He put a lot of emphasis in that last word.

Bright then took out his necklace from his clothes and held it near Chief Kakuzawa's face, still not touching it yet.

"So rest assured mister Kakuzawa, that you did not win this war. You were not even a contender to begin with. And I think I will enjoy thwarting your plans using your body, out of sheer spite, for the simple fact that for a second there you made me take you seriously as an enemy, when you are not even worthy of licking the boots of the D-class personnel that works at the Foundation."

Kakuzawa felt a sudden impulse, he fought his way out of the grip that one of the Mole Rats had on him, and reached out once more beneath his desk, and pressed a last button beneath it with the number '39' on it. Immediately he was held down again.

Chief Kakuzawa straightened his back "It doesn't matter. The virus is released, the diclonii are unleashed, and the war cannot be stopped. And last, but certainly not least, even if the diclonii don't take over, then prisoner 39 will destroy the human race. I wish you good luck mister Bright, you are going to need it."

Bright knew that any word coming out of this man past this point would be either to waste his time, or to try to manipulate him. Whichever the case, his words had absolutely no value anymore.

"The Foundation makes its own luck." said Bright and placed the medallion on his forehead. Chief Kakuzawa closed his eyes, and Jack Bright, iteration 20 opened them. The foundation staff let go of him immediately.

Iteration 20 held the medallion with his hand, and said to iteration 19. "I will take it from here."

Iteration 19 gave a big wide smile. He knew that the second he would let go of the medallion, he would no longer have a higher brain function, and would become vegetative, since the SCP-963 needs thirty days in contact with a body in order to make the copy of the personality of Jack Bright a permanent one. So he placed his right hand on a military salute, and then said "Long live iteration 20." And the instant he let go of the medallion, he fell down to the floor, and did not moved again.

Iteration 20 placed the medallion on his neck and then inside his clothes. He then moved towards the communicator on the desk of Chief Kakuzawa's office, that was activated with his finger prints... it was his office now. And in it, he started using his most authoritarian voice that resounded all over the facility:

"This is Chief Director Kakuzawa. I repeat, this is Chief Director Kakuzawa. I order my forces to keep Doctor Arakawa unharmed, we might need her knowledge later on. Protect her at all costs. Also if somebody wants a promotion and a significant monetary price, bring me the number of the floor and the cell where we put Arakawa in. To the rest of my forces, you shall surrender to the SCP Foundation's forces, and aid in the capture and recontainment of the escaped diclonii. As for the SCP Foundation's personnel, I have just got myself in contact with Doctor Jack Bright (every Foundation member knew what that actually meant). The Diclonius Research Institute is now entirely surrendered to you and at your service. If any of the personnel at the Diclonius Research Institute does not comply with this, they can be terminated on sight. I repeat my orders: Stop fighting among yourselfs, recontain the escaped diclonii, keep Arakawa unharmed, and tell me in which damned cell we kept her locked up. I want no delays. I want those things done NOW."


	29. Fraternal

Lucy's group had been fighting their way through the facility and repeatedly opening every cell their path had crossed. Some of them were empty, particularly the cells seven and twelve which were the ones corresponding to Nana and Lucy respectively. Probably they thought that they would recontain them eventually. But for the most part, they did find silpelits caged inside, and all their sorrow was felt by both Lucy and Nana, even if indirectly. Still, Lucy and Nana did not want the same mistake to repeat itself, and they had to walk ahead leaving them locked away.

They had reached and passed the cell number 26, which also contained a silpelit, when suddenly they heard the loud sound of all the cells around them opening, and the eerie sound of the metal cages being broke and torn.

"WARNING. MASSIVE CONTAINMENT BREACH ON ALL FLOORS OF IMPRISONMENT." said once again that same robotic voice.

From every cell, one by one, small children with pink hair and horns started emerging. Some of them were able to walk. Others were lumping, and others were crawling their way out.

"Mamma, is that you? Did you get me out? Mamma? Where are you?" said the silpelit that came out stumbling from the cell number 26.

The entirety of the group was still fighting the enemy soldiers and could not hear it. But Nana and Lucy felt the confusion coming from the silpelit, so they turned around, and saw her stumbling.

"Oh no..." said Lucy as soon as she noticed her, while she threw a soldier from the Diclonius Research Institute against another group of enemy soldiers. She immediately retreated, and went over towards her, and took Nana alongside with her.

"Get back inside." said Lucy to the silpelit. "It's not safe out here."

The silpelit felt her concern, but she was still very confused. "Where is my mamma? I want to see her."

Lucy had the slight suspicion that Arakawa had actually been treating all the silpelits with tenderness. To some extent, it made her feel that maybe there was still some hope for the human race. But if Arakawa was dead... that could only mean a terrible rage and loneliness would invade all of the silpelits she had taken care of. And there was no way to know where that would lead them.

"We are trying to find her. But listen to me, if you don't go back inside the cell, you could get hurt out here."

A screaming came from the front of the fighting scene. Another silpelit had escaped, gotten shot at, and started slashing her way into anybody in front of her. And the people in front of her were the Diclonius Research Institute armada, but she would very well could get through towards where they were.

"What is happening?" kept asking the little silpelit.

"Come with us..." said Nana and took the silpelit by the arm and dragged her back into the cell she came out of, in case any bullet would come flying their way, so she wouldn't get hurt, scared, angry and then on raging mode. Lucy followed them

"We are like you." said Nana to her "We were trapped in this place a while ago, but we got out, and we are trying to rescue your mamma, because she got captured too."

"My mamma is trapped?" said the little silpelit scared. "Where is she?"

"We are trying to find her." said Lucy as she placed her hands over her shoulders and looked at her eyes. "Listen, we are here to help all of you, all the children that have been trapped down here, but you have to listen to me. There is a voice inside your head that will tell you to harm others, and it will happen everytime you feel alone and angry. Don't listen to that voice. Never listen to that voice. If you do, every moment of your life after that will be a living nightmare." Lucy was trying to give her the only advise she should have received so long ago. "If you ever hear that voice, think about your mamma's face smiling at you. Think about how happy she will be to see you again. Think about the times she was being nice to you. Promise me that. Promise me that, please."

"I have heard that voice. It says that all humans are evil. And that all humans must be killed. You two seem nice. But you are not humans." said the silpelit. For Lucy it was slightly painful to hear that, since she had been repeatedly insulted during her childhood by being told that she 'was not human'.

"Your mamma is a human. And she has been nice to you." said Lucy, trying to make her notice that.

"She is the only one. All other humans are evil. They harm me. I hate them."

Lucy felt the uncontainable rage inside the silpelit. Uncontrolled. Unmeasurable.

"No, listen. Not all humans are like that." said Lucy desperatedly trying to save this little girl from the atrocious destiny that would await her if she got into a murderous rampage. "I know several humans that are nice people. I will present them to you later on. So please, don't listen to that voice. Just think about your mamma. Please, please, please. Just picture her face, and her voice."

The silpelit felt Lucy's desperation, and got scared and away from her.

The silpelit felt scared, and alone, because she wasn't with her mamma.

Lucy's face was distorted into a pain-filled expression. And she readied her vectors in case she had to fight this silpelit too.

"Please, not again." she said on the brink of tears. She really did not want to hurt another unwillingly-raging-monster.

"Mamma." said out loud the silpelit, and the sensation of loneliness receded.

Did it worked? Had it actually worked? A two minute conversation was everything that was needed to stop the raging monster from taking over? Probably not. But it was a step in the right direction.

Lucy got closer to the silpelit and placed her arms around her. "Thank goodness." she said relieved.

The silpelit felt the embrace, and felt strangely comfortable. Something she had only felt when Arakawa was near her. She, for no reason that she could understand, lifted her arms and placed them around Lucy.

On the outside the battle still raged on. The silpelit in the front had managed to slaughter her way into the Foundation's position, and now she was facing the full force of the Samsaras and the Mole Rats. But since the Samsaras had their cannons at the ready, and the Mole Rats had grenades, she went down easily. Then the hallway went relatively quiet.

Lucy and Nana sticked their head out, and saw that the battle had gone quiet for now. Lucy told Nana to go to them and to tell them to remain calmed, since they had something to show them.

Then Lucy asked number 26 to remain calmed, and took her towards them holding her hand.

"Is that another silpelit?" asked Munru.

"Yes." said Lucy a bit nervous "She came from cell number 26. I think she can stay in a bit more of control. Relatively speaking."

"You know what will happen if she loses it, right?" said Nanku looking intensely at the newly arrived silpelit.

"Yeah..." said Lucy feeling strangely scared about the tonality that Nanku used.

"Are these the humans you told me were nice?" asked 26, while Nanku and Munru had their cannons ready, and Carter was cleaning his knife from the blood of the last soldier he had stabbed to death.

"Ahm... they are not going to hurt you as long as you don't try to hurt them. Correct?" said Lucy.

"Sure..." said Carter from the side. "Now the problem would be, whether or not she will eventually try to attack us."

"If you would ask me," said Nanku "Our best option would be to put her to sleep and leave her in one of the cells. That way she would stay out of our way and out of trouble."

That really was their best option. Lucy looked at 26.

"Please, don't leave me here." said the little silpelit. "I don't want to be put in the darkness again. I don't want to be hurt anymore. Please don't put me in a cell... If they come for me, they will hurt me again."

Lucy could feel her anguish building up. And she could also feel the grip of her scarred hand tightening over her own hand.

"Easy, now. Take it easy." Lucy knelt down to get to the height of the silpelit, and passed her hand over her face. "Think about your mamma, and you will start to feel better." Lucy turned her head towards the group "Can't we just take her with us?"

"Is that a joke?" said Munru "I'm being serious, sometimes I don't recognize jokes. Because if it is I don't find it funny."

"It's not a joke. Can't we give her a chance." said Lucy.

"Not a chance in hell." said Carter. "I won't have a possible berserker anywhere near my team."

"Please. I'll be good. I promise." said little 26. She was far more scared of being left in a cell in this place than the group of strangers she had never seen, simply because one of them had shown a very small amount of tenderness towards her, and the rest of them had never actually harmed her.

"I'll watch over her." said Lucy.

"I will try to take care of her too." said Nana, since she too felt her fear and anguish.

"I said no." said Carter getting irritated. "I will not risk any other person in my team if I..."

Footsteps were heard coming from the hallway that lead upwards. Just loud enough as to be heard by the group as they were approaching slowly, but continuously.

"What is that?" said Carter, getting into a defensive position.

At the distance they saw five pink haired figures approaching, barely being able to walk appropriatedly, which made the sight even more eerie than it should have been. They had all found each other along the spiral path, and their telepathical-emotional-connection had allowed them to stick together.

Hatred was felt emanating from them. Unbound fear. And a severely seated loneliness was at the core of every single one of them. And those negative emotions made them feel each other as the same... terribly alone while being together. Scared of each other and themselves. Hating their wreched existence itself. Amplifying their negative emotions one to the other. If they got angry, they would not stop.

Lucy and Nana took number 26 behind their backs.

"Whatever you feel" said Lucy to her "You are not one of them. You are one of us. You have us, and you are not alone." reasured Lucy to number 26. "Just think of your mamma and how happy she will be to see you again." Lucy just hoped that she would not go berserk, just that she would not become an enemy.

As the group of silpelits came closer, they heard their voices speaking at the same time.

"Mamma... Why did you leave me alone, mamma?"

"Do you hate me so much, mamma?"

"I hate you too, mamma."

"You left me alone and in pain, mamma."

"I will kill everyone, mamma. So you too can feel as alone as I feel."

"I will destroy this world, mamma. And I will make one for myself."

They all sounded as a single hive mind, that was completely deranged and detached from reality, chanting almost in unison their hatred towards their beloved mamma. The virus had taken control of them already.

Lucy and Nana approached them slowly. Maybe there was a way to reach them before they would go berserk. However, the rest of the Foundation personnel was not so optimistic and readied their weapons.

"Hello." said Lucy to the group of silpelits. "Can any of you hear me?" Lucy tried to feel sorry for them, but their movements, their behavior, and the very emotions coming from them were so alien that she felt fear of being near them.

"I have not known you before. You are one of them. You have come to harm me. I will kill you for it!" The five silpelits manifested all of their vectors that were thrown against Lucy immediately. Lucy managed to jump backwards, and she saw Nana doing the same. But the length of the vectors coming from the silpelits were longer than usual, at least some of them. Lucy and Nana had barely escaped from being torn into pieces from their attack.

A lot of explosions came immediately after. Nanku and Munru were shooting up their cannons. And from the smoke the five silpelits came out unharmed, and each threw itselft towards a different place. Every member of the group saw a raging silpelit approaching them. Nana and Lucy managed to break off from the initial attack, and came together to protect one another, while the raging vectors of the other silpelits crashed over them, with little effect, since Nana and Lucy started working together and managed to throw one of them against the wall.

And it was at this moment when they also noticed how much Munru and Nanku had been holding back. They were moving like ghosts on the ground, with their own propellers at full speed, making them quicker than the speed of the vectors coming in their direction. This time, instead of cannons, Nanku readied incendiary projectiles that were crashed onto one of the silpelit's vectors and set her surroundings in flames, blinding her. Immediately, Munru shot the silpelit with his cannon from the side, and pierced her chest, killing her.

The few remaining Mole Rats found themselves in front of another silpelit, and she teared them in pieces, but not before one of them removed a pin from a grenade belt that he threw near her, taking her down with them.

Carter used his own grenades and threw them at the nearest silpelit he had, which fell to the side and did not moved again.

The last silpelit had also gone after Lucy and Nana, but unfortunately, the one silpelit that Lucy had thrown against the wall had also raised again and both were trying to rip them into pieces.

Suddenly, the two silpelits were crashed and held against a wall by an invisible force, and all of their vectors were neutralized by another group of vectors. The prisoner 26 was holding them down with her own vectors that were at least 20 meters long, and there were at least sixteen of them, saving both Lucy and Nana from being harmed.

Nana immediately remembered her fight with the silpelit Mariko, and how she managed to save herself, and placed her vectors on the heads of the two remaining silpelits, blocking their vectors.

Lucy turned her head back and noticed that number 26 was crying. She had also felt their fear and loneliness, and she did not wanted them to be harmed either. She just wanted the fight to be over.

Carter could not see exactly what had happened since he couldn't really see none of the vectors of nobody, but he knew about intentions by noticing the emotions relflected in people's faces, so he knew when somebody was about to attack. And then he noticed that the silpelit he had shot with a grenade was awake, and was looking intensely at number 26.

"Watch out!" he screamed and pushed 26 to the side, and immediately his chest was pierced by one of the invisible vectors of the other silpelit.

Munru and Nanku noticed her and shot her dead with their cannons.

"Carter!" yelled Munru, and everybody noticed how he was bleeding profusely, and immediately surrounded him.

Nanku placed his head on her lap.

"This is going to leave a mark" said Carter barely able to speak.

"Don't talk, Carter." said Munru to him.

"And what is that supposed to do? Save you from my boring dying words?"

"Don't say that, Carter." said Munru.

Number 26 got close to him, and saw how much blood was on the floor. She knew he had pushed her from harm's way. "Y-You saved me." she said, barely understanding the situation. A human had saved her life, from the attack of a diclonius. But humans were supposed to be the evil ones. Why had a human saved her? It didn't make any sense.

Carter almost laughed, but he coughed blood instead "I just hope you don't turn against the rest of them. It would mean that I saved the wrong life." he told to 26.

Lucy and Nana understood the sacrifice he had made, and held his hands on their own.

"Mister Carter..." whispered Nana tearing up. "You are a good person mister Carter."

"Thanks, kid." he said to Nana. "Do me a favor, Munru. Make sure to get this one alive from here. I kinda like her."

"I will, my friend. You have my word." answered back Munru.

"Now get going. Arakawa is still somewhere. Find her. Bring her back."

"We can't leave you here." said Lucy. "We can't let you die here."

"Sure you can. And you must. There is nothing any of you can do to save me. Just go. Finish the mission. Finish... the..." Carter's head fell to the side and would not move again. He was gone. Munru used his hand to close Carter's eyes, and Nanku let his head fall gently to the ground.

"Well, that really sucked." said Nanku, still unable to really have an appropriate emotional reaction. "What are we gonna do about them?" she said looking at the two silpelits left alive but that were unable to use their vectors.

Both of them were crying and screaming.

"Mamma. Where are you?"

"I don't want to be alone, mamma."

Lucy saw the silpelits begging in desperation for a mother that wasn't there. And then she had a terrible thought crossing her mind.

"All this children inside this terrible place... they would not exist if I wouldn't have been infecting people for so long. They wouldn't have been tortured and used in experiments, or used as tools to begin a war. Am I responsible for them? Am I responsible for their suffering? Did I created them and then abandoned them in a cold and cruel world? Am I, in a sense, their neglectful mother? And if that is so, then does it also means that I, in the same sense, failed to protect them?"

All the people around her looked at her concerned of what she was saying. Where was she going with this?

Lucy looked at Nana, and realized that she was also the result of her reckless actions "At least I can protect you, Nana. At least I can try to be better with you. My little sister." She said, and placed her arms around her.

Nana felt the embrace, and was almost reminded of the times that her dad had embraced her, and to some extent, it calmed her mind from the terror she was feeling with all the chaos of the battle that they had been going through.

26 looked at them both, and could also feel their feelings, and she knew she wanted the same. Someone that would make her feel exactly like that... loved and cared for.

And then the voice of Chief Kakuzawa resounded everywhere around the facility, carrying the message of surrendering of the Diclonius Research Institute to the SCP Foundation, and the necessity for the recontainment of the diclonii. Lucy knew what had to be done.

"Put both of them to sleep." she said to the group. "If we find other silpelits that are uncontrolled, Nana and me will try to block their vectors, and then we will put them all to sleep inside a different cell. That will keep them from harming others, and will also keep them out of trouble. You were right Nanku. Maybe it's the only thing we can do."

"A-are you going to put me to sleep too?" asked 26 scared to the bones.

"No." answered Lucy without a second thought, and placed her hands over her cheeks. "You are under more control than the rest of them. And you helped us in this fight. If you promise me that you will ignore the voice inside your head that is pushing you to harm others, then we will take you with us." Lucy placed her arms around her now, and she almost felt like she had with Arakawa near her.

"I-I promise. I promise it." said 26.

Immediately, Nanku and Munru got closer to the other two silpelits, and put aerosolized anesthetics on their faces for a brief moment, and placed them inside cell 26.

From this moment on, they repeated a similar process with the rest of the silpelits they would find. The three diclonii would restrain the others, either Lucy or Nana would block their vectors, and Munru and Nanku would put them to sleep. It was not easy, but it worked.


	30. Fear Goddess

I have seen your dreams.

I have seen your nightmares.

I have seen your heart.

I have seen your soul.

They all belong to the awakened goddess.

They all belong to me.

From infestation I was created,

but the infestation I destroyed.

My containment was a nightmare,

but a nightmare I recall.

Only one reached out to me,

only one shall be spared.

Call for help, beg for mercy.

The goddess shall ignore.

Your fears and sorrows,

I shall make you all behold.

"WARNING. PRISONER NUMBER 39 HAS BREACHED CONTAINMENT."


	31. Containment Breach

Lucy, Nana, 26, Munru and Nanku kept walking down the spiral path, and as they did, they found themselves among battles between several Diclonius Institute soldiers, and silpelits. Due to the fact that the soldiers were being practically slaughtered, they really had no trouble in joining forces with the Foundation personnel. The problem was that there were three diclonii among them, and they mostly panicked the instant they saw them. A harsh battle where they had to kill all the soldiers and the silpelits alike was a hard lesson, but a lesson that they would learn from.

But then the question still remained... how to solve this problem? If Munru or Nanku approached them first the soldiers might be willing to listen, but they would have to engage the silpelits with deadly force. But if the diclonii went first to try to stop the aggressive silpelits, then the soldiers would become hostile against them. A difficult situation. Difficult indeed. The only way to avoid any unnecessary conflict now would be to neutralize them all without outright killing them. Sleeping gas would have been useful, but neither Munru or Nanku had enough except for putting the silpelits to sleep and only in close range. Onru and Irantu would have been useful for this, but they were not here.

However, they did have one option... the soldiers probably had communicators between them. They did not need to speak to all of them directly, just one or maybe two without killing them, and make them ask nicely to the others not to attack the diclonii on their side. On the other hand, it would be impractical to try to convince them that the diclonii in their side were the only 'nice diclonii that would not hurt anyone', so instead they decided to pretend that the SCP Foundation had found a way to implant a cerebral control chip on them, and that they were just following orders activated by Munru's and Nanku's voice. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.

They simply asked 26 that no matter what happens, she would not say anything, and that she would not use her vectors either, no matter what. Hopefully that would keep her quiet and tamed in front of the soldier.

Nanku decided to be the one that would approach one of the soldiers, and as soon as they found another battle, all of them except Nanku stayed behind a corner, while she moved towards the nearest soldier, and she placed her hand over his shoulder, which made him jump from the surprise.

Nanku signaled the insignia in her uniform. "SCP Foundation. Come with me." and she guided the soldier behind the corner, where he was immediately restrained by Lucy's vectors, while Nana took away his machinegun and covered his mouth with her own vectors so he wouldn't scream, which was absolutely necessary since he entered in absolute panic when he saw the three pink haired women in front of him.

"Calm down. Calm down." said Munru to the man "They are not going to harm you. They are under the control of the SCP Foundation. We captured them and implanted microchips in their brains to follow our commands. They are basically drones under our control. Listen closely. When I give the order, they will release you unharmed, and we are going to talk calmedly. Do you understand what I am saying?"

The soldier nodded still scared like hell, but since he was otherwise unharmed, he believed them.

"Lucy, Nana. Release him." ordered Munru.

He felt as he was let down gently to the ground.

"I am Munru and this is Nanku, and they are Lucy, Nana, and TwentySix. We are all working for the Foundation and therefore your entire group are under our orders. You understand that, correct?"

"Y-Yes... I heard the message like everyone else."

"Good. Listen. These diclonii are especially trained to deal with the loose silpelits. But we need that the lot of you stay out of their way, and don't attack them. Do you have an intercomunicator with the rest of your group?"

"Yeah, I have it right here." He picked up a black intercommunicator from his belt.

"Tell them that we will send these diclonii to restrain and neutralize the silpelits, and none of you must intefere with them. Do it now."

He turned on his intercommunicator and spoke through it. "Boys, we have the SCP Foundation here, and they have three diclonii as pets that they can control." None of the diclonii liked to be called 'pets', but they said nothing "They will be released to control the escaped silpelits. Do not attack them. I repeat, do not attack them."

"Lucy, Nana, TwentySix." said Munru with an authoritarian voice "Restrain and neutralize the escaped silpelit, we will be right behind you."

"They are releasing them right now, boys. Do not attack them."

The three pink haired women marched towards the battle. Lucy and Nana were covering themselves and also to 26 in case there was a lost bullet heading their way.

They entirety of the group of soldiers were trying their hardest against a single silpelit and she was torning them apart. But in a matter of seconds, Lucy, Nana, and 26 had her pinned against the ground, Nana blocked her vectors, and then Nanku put her to sleep, and inside the cell she came out of.

The soldiers around them were still in shock. They had been on the brink of dying, and they had seen their fellow partners getting absolutely slaughtered.

"Fucking monsters! Fucking. Infernal. MONSTERS!!!" screeched one of the soldiers collapsing to the ground and clawing his head. "They look like children but they are nothing but monsters. I hope all of them DIE!!!"

The three diclonii turned to look at him with different reactions. Nana felt disgusted, Lucy angry, and 26 scared. It was 26's fear that concerned Lucy, so she gently took her hand and slightly caressed it.

Munru approached the soldier, and slapped him on the face. "Get a hold of yourself soldier." he told the soldier he had not known before, but he knew exactly how to handle a scared soldier. "They can be far more than just monsters." he turned his head towards the three diclonii for a second, and then turned again towards the soldier.

"Yes. Certainly they can be far more." said the soldier that they had captured earlier "Somehow the SCP Foundation has managed to turn these three in slaves. How is that not impressive?"

Lucy started to remember why she had started to hate on humans in the first place. Because there were certain humans that were absolutely hateful.

"And if that is the case," continued the same hateful soldier "Then do you think they could be used as slaves in other areas?" he said looking at Lucy with a deranged face. "After all, they really look like pretty women when they grow up."

The motherfucker was really pushing his luck at this point, or so thought Lucy.

"What do you say, pretty girl?" continued the stupid soldier. "Would you give me a kiss?" he came closer to Lucy with his lips closed together. And there was no way in hell she would let this asshole anywhere near her. She immediately grabbed him by the face with her right hand pressing as hard as she could, and surrounded him with her vectors tightening him in a grip that could turn into a deadly one if she so desired.

"Keep your disgusting face out of my sight!" she said immediately to the guy. Every remaining soldier got surprised, scared and placed their machineguns aiming at the three diclonii.

"Wait!" said Munru. "Do not open fire. DO NOT open fire. Lucy, don't hurt him."

"Why not?!" she said entirely enraged "We should just kill all of these jackasses, and just find Arakawa. She is the only reason why we are down here in the first place. Not these idiots. The silpelits on the loose are unwillingly going on a rampage. But these idiots are absolutely disgusting just because they choose to."

"You said you had them under control!" said the soldier held by Lucy. "Control them!"

"Are you really that stupid?!" said Lucy back at him "It was a lie! It should have been obvious at this point. You jerks have been brainwashed by your boss into believing that all diclonii are just monsters that will kill anybody just because. But he lied to all of you. And trying to convince you otherwise would have been far more difficult than just lying to you. But we really misjudged how stupid and degenerate you assholes could be!" Lucy let go of him and the soldier fell to the ground.

Nanku picked up the soldier from the ground and slapped him so hard that he started bleeding. "You don't treat a lady like that, you absolute imbecil!"

"Lets just go." said Lucy walking ahead, holding the hand of 26 trying to make her feel half-way secure.

Nana on her part had already been told by Mayu all the details of what harassment was, specially because she had to guard herself from it too, so she looked at the guy on the floor, and just said one word with disgust filling her voice "Degenerate!"

The soldier tried to incorporate, but he felt a kick on his rear and fell to the ground again. "I'm going to need your intercommunicator." said Munru to him "I should have though of this from earlier on." The soldier passed him his intercommunicator. "Now get your asses out of here. I really don't want any of you near my team, especially you." he said looking at the soldier at his feet with pure contempt.

As Munru walked in the same direction as the rest of his team, he turned the intercommunicator on and started speaking "This is Lieutenant Munru from the SCP Foundation. There are three diclonii that are under our orders, and they must be treated as special members of the Foundation in charge of recontaining the escaped silpelits, and are therefore out of bounds to any member of the Diclonius Research Institute. Any type of hostility or inappropriate behaviour against them, CAN and WILL be met with deadly force. So if any soldier of the Diclonius Research Institute is signaled to identify these three specific diclonii, you will be forbidden to attack them, and you will let them do their job in saving your lives. If for some reason any of you breaks these rules... I will personally torch you with a flamethrower."

Another voice came from the other side of the intercommunicator. "Roger that, Lieutenant Munru."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since Munru had threatened the soldiers with getting burned if they attacked the diclonii in their custody, it became far easier to have their cooperation during the battles against the silpelits, and the advancement was far quicker now.

They had reached cell number 34 within minutes, and they had just put another silpelit to sleep, when they heard many footsteps coming from behind them.

The Mole Rats that went on to the headquarters upstairs with Bright were back, alongside Irantu, Onru, and the body of Chief Director Kakuzawa controlled by Jack Bright at the head.

"Lieutenant Munru." said Chief Kakuzawa's body "We found Captain Carter dead back there. Doctor Jack Bright requieres your status report."

"Lucy and Nana managed to put in our service to a third silpelit, prisoner number 26. They have proven to be extremely useful with neutralizing the other silpelits without killing them. The soldiers of the Diclonius Institute have proven to be cooperational after some... minor adjustments. We have not found Arakawa yet. What took you so long in reaching here?"

"There were many unleashed silpelits in the way here." said Bright "Some of them had to be neutralized with deadly force," Lucy felt terribly angry and saddened at that. "Fortunately Irantu and Onru managed to put a good number of them to sleep using sleeping gas cannisters. I already have the information about Arakawa's wereabouts. She is in cell number 35."

It was the next cell. The same cell from where Mariko, the biological daughter of Doctor Kurama, had been imprisoned. It had been probably empty since Mariko had been killed in an explosion. But now it had a new prisoner inside. Arakawa herself. There was no time to lose then. they moved quickly towards it, and opened it forcefully, since Chief Kakuzawa had not opened it from his office.

As soon as they entered, they found her chained from the ceiling and hanging from her hands. She looked bruised and severely wounded, even with some of her limbs bent in weird ways, so her bones had obviously been broken. The instant that she saw her, silpelit number 26 jumped at full speed at her, and broke the chains from where she had been hanging, while she brought Arakawa down gently.

"Mamma!" she said to the woman on the floor, desperate for helping her.

Arakawa heard the voice of a child calling for her mother, and could barely move or speak, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she noticed the little girl looking at her with teary eyes. Somehow she could recognize every little girl she had taken care of.

"TwentySix." she whispered with a light smile on her face. "Are you really here? Or am I just dreaming?" she passed her right hand over the face of the silpelit.

"I'm here, mamma! What happened to you?!"

"Arakawa!" said Bright coming closer towards her, alongside Lucy, Nana, and Munru. But as Bright was in Chief Kakuzawa's body, she just felt a burst of fear and resignation when she saw him.

"If you are going to kill me, please don't let her see it." said Arakawa begging to him.

Bright took the necklace out of his shirt and showed it to Arakawa. "It's me, Arakawa. Jack Bright. Jack Bright."

Arakawa was severely disoriented and barely conscious, but she could understand that "Jack Bright. Does this mean that you won over the facility? Are the rest of my children safe?"

Bright looked at her, and realized that she was not going to make it. "The Foundation will watch over them." he told her.

"Thank you, Jack." She turned her head towards 26, placed her hand on her cheek again and spoke. "Go with this man, TwentySix. He will take care of you. Please be a good girl. Be a good girl for me. Try to be happy."

Arakawa then looked at the silpelit and felt one last impulse she should do for her. She passed her hand over her cheek and then...

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." started whispering Arakawa just over her breath... one last song for her child.

"You make me happy, when skies are gray." started singing along the little silpelit and their voices conjoined, while Twentysix's tears fell down her cheeks. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Arakawa smiled lightly to the silpelit, and felt an inner peace. Her hand fell to the ground, and everything went black for her.

"Mamma..." whispered 26, and felt a terrible sorrow. Lucy, felt the sorrow building up inside the silpelit and immediately placed her arms around her.

"You are not going to be alone." said Lucy to her as she embraced her tightly, and Nana hugged her too. "We will take you with us. We will keep you safe." Lucy just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't go berserk, and even to her surprise, 26 placed her head on her chest, and cried her eyes out, but she did not fell victim of the voice of the virus. She remained in control, despite the sorrow she felt and the loss she experienced.

A sudden earthquake shook the ground.

"WARNING. PRISONER NUMBER 39 HAS BREACHED CONTAINMENT." was heard from the robotic voice once more.

From the front door, another very small pink haired creature with horns walked slowly towards the center of the chamber, where the group around Arakawa had gathered. She was looking directly at them and did not moved her sight even a milimeter. She did not attacked anyone, and everybody was extremely surprised by that. Lucy and Nana saw her getting closer, but there was something strange about her. She looked like a silpelit. But they could not feel her presence, or her emotions like with the rest of the silpelits. Something was different about her.

When she was close enough to the group, she stopped for a second, looking at Arakawa's dead body directly. There was a small glow inside her eyes. A sudden force pushed absolutely everyone gathered around the circle surrounding Arakawa, and threw them all towards the walls of the chamber.

The new silpelit kept on walking towards Arakawa's body. Passed her hand over her forehead, and slowly moved it all over her body. And as she did, all the bruises dissapeared, all her broken bones were put back in their place. All her pierced organs were immediately healed. And a white dress with golden decorations all over it appeared over Arakawa's body, and a matching outfit began appearing over the silpelit's body too.

"Wake up, mamma." said the new silpelit.

Arakawa opened her eyes suddenly, and a similar glow to the one inside the eyes of the silpelit could be seen from Arakawa's eyes.

"Hello, darling." said Arakawa to the new silpelit.

"It's time to leave this place, mamma. It's time for you to take me out."

"Indeed, darling." said Arakawa who immediately incorporated, and took the silpelit's hand, and started walking out of the chamber.

Bright had a sudden realization, and knew that the silpelit that had just arrived was not just a diclonius. And for the first time since he had began this entire mission, he felt fear.

"To every soldier that can hear me!!!" yelled Bright "Aim you guns at this creature and open fire!!!"

All the soldiers of the Foundation and the Diclonius Institute that were near, aimed their guns, and cannons towards the silpelit that was holding Arakawa's hand, and shot.

There was not a single bullet, or projectile that even reached their position. They were all instantly vaporized and dissapeared even half a meter before getting to them. Bright's fears were confirmed that instant.

Both the silpelit and Arakawa frowned and lifted their right hands and signaled at one of the soldiers of the Mole Rats with their index finger "I know what you fear." they said at unison.

Out of nowhere, there was a helmet that appeared over the head of the Mole Rat soldier. A helmet that ressembled a lot to a very ancient diver's suit. And a fitting outfit surrounded the same soldier.

"AAAAAHHH!!!" screamed the soldier. "NO!!! GET IT OFF ME!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!" screamed the soldier trying to take off the diver's helmet from his face, and the instant he managed to do so, the entire diver's suit fell to the ground and several liters of water came flowing from it. The soldier himself had dissapeared...

Everyone saw confused and horrified the scenery.

"I know what all of you fear." said the conjointed voices of Arakawa and the silpelit.

"Run!" screamed Bright "RUN!!! IT'S A REALITY BENDER!!!" he knew that whatever was going to happen now, was simply going to be a horror show. And none of them had come prepared for a situation where they had to fight a reality bender. It was going to be slaughter.

There was a sudden loud and repeated banging coming from the gigantic metallic structure that used to contain Mariko, and in a single instant, the structure broke open. Two more glowing eyes were seen coming from it. And an enormous scaled creature came out of it. It would have looked like an enormous dinosaur with hair, that screeched a terrifying roar, and started attacking the people in front of it. Bullets came flying towards it, and barely scratched the surface of the monster.

Then came out several more creatures that had the approximate size of a human, but walked on four legs, had no facial features except for a mouth filled with sharp teeth, and were entirely red in color, and they also started mauling the face of whomever got in their way.

"My cure is most effective!" said a somber voice also coming from the same broken cage. A tall figure dressed in black with a white mask that ended in a long beak, that looked exactly as an ancient plague doctor, jumped towards the closest soldier he had and slashed his neck, and killed him. Within seconds the body of the man got up again and started attacking other soldiers, and then the process repeated.

"Samsaras!" called yet another voice coming from the same cage. "Traitors to you own cause! Betrayers of your own flesh!" Another cyborg emerged from the darkness of the broken cage.

"Oh God Damn It!" yelled Irantu "Not this guy again! Samsaras! Attack Formation!" The entirety of the Samsara soldiers were entirely distracted by the fight they had to endure now.

Lucy, Nana and 26 were absolutely horrified. "What the hell is going on?!!!" screamed Lucy, as she had to rip in two one of the red creatures with teeth that had come her way trying to eat her face.

Bright held Lucy by the hand, and told her "Take the other two diclonii with you, and get the hell out of here! There is nothing any of you can do against these things!!! Just RUN!!! Don't look back!" 

Lucy nodded, and took 26 on her arms, and pulled Nana with her hand and started running away. Bright went immediately to pick up a grenade and threw it towards the plague doctor that was relatively close to him, and he got taken down.

As they went out of the chaotic chamber, they had to fend off either zombified soldiers, or those red things that were trying to munch on anyone in their way. Blood was everywhere, and true fear was felt at every corner. And as they got out, they saw Arakawa and the silpelit near her getting through a hole in the wall that seemed to reach towards the beach, but that should have been impossible, since they were at least twenty meters beneath the ground, and being in an island, any hole should have been underwater at this point. But there was none of it, and Arakawa and the silpelit went through the hole, and then dissapeared. Even the very hole on the wall was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SCPs coming from 39's warping technics in order: 1861,682,939,049,2970.


	32. Field Report 11

As they ran through the spiral path, they heard the screeches of the creatures that had been unleashed from the nightmares of the members of the SCP Foundation. The red creatures had managed to escape the chamber, and from down below they could still hear the roaring of the terrifying dinosaur. Lucy had thought of herself as a monster once. But it was just now that she truly understood what an actual monster could be.

The red creatures were chasing them through the spiral path, and as soon as she crossed the cell number 34 again, she realized that there were aslept silpelits within each cell. They were going to be easy prey for the creatures if they reached them. No way in hell was she going to let that happen.

"Nana." said Lucy to her. "Take TwentySix, and keep on running. I will try to stop those things." Lucy passed the silpelit to Nana as she said that.

Immediately, one of the red creatures launched itself towards Lucy's head, and it was instantaneously sliced in half. Then came another. And another. And then three more.

"What are you waiting for? Just RUN!" she yelled at them.

"I'm not leaving you behind!" said Nana, and she also used her vectors to slice one of the red creatures herself.

About twenty more of those things came running into their way... but they did it slower than before, they were running first, then throtling, and then walking, and then they slammed against the floor, and did not moved anymore.

"What the...?" Lucy was as surprised as anybody would have been.

A loud sound came from the cell number 35 as if a gigantic body would have fallen to the ground.

Lucy, Nana and 26 remained still for a few seconds, looking in the direction of the chamber number 35. Not a single other creature came from it again. But there were several people coming out from it, lumping or dragging someone outside of it alongside with them.

Several soldiers started running away and did not looked back again, and to be honest, could anyone blame them?

Lucy started walking back towards the cell from where the rest of the people were coming out of.

Lucy saw that Bright was carrying out the top half of Munru alongside an unharmed Onru that was covered in blood, while Irantu had lost his left arm, and Nanku had half of her face covered in her own blood and a missing eye.

The rest of the soldiers, the ones that were not dead or had not ran away seemed to be in conditions just as bad as them if not worse.

The three diclonii walked slowly towards them, and as they got close to the chamber they noticed that the giant dinosaur was dead on the floor, alongside every other creature that had appeared before.

"That was kind of fun." said Nanku when the three diclonii were close enough to hear them.

"Wrong emotion, Nanku." said Irantu to her. "Normal people do not usually enjoy this."

"They don't know what they are missing." said Onru.

"Indeed they don't." said Munru himself despite the fact that he was only half the man he used to be, in a literal sense only.

"All of you are going to need on oil change after this." said Bright sarcastically. Then he turned his head, and saw the pink haired women approaching "Lucy! I thought I told you to run. Why are you back?"

"The silpelits in the cells. If those things kept on attacking they would have been easy prey."

"So you decided to risk of becoming yourselves easy prey?" Bright looked at her with an angered look, as if he could barely believe what she had just said.

"What the hell happened, Bright?" said Lucy looking at the ridiculous scene and not understanding anything from the last ten minutes.

"Reality Bender. That is what happened." was his response. "A creature that is capable of influencing reality with just its mind. This one can apparently see the deepest fears of someone and turn them into reality."

"But all these creatures... did they just fell to the ground all of a sudden?" asked Lucy again.

"Yes. I'm not a betting man when I have not rigged a game, but if I were, I would bet that these creatures could only operate near her. She probably has a limited influence range, and outside of that range, these things would fall back and eventually die. Now the problem is, where the hell is she? And how far can her influence reach?"

"Mister Munru... are you going to be alright?" asked a very concerned Nana.

"Don't worry about me, kid." said Munru "I'm a cyborg, and although this body is definitely too trashed as for me to keep being useful, and I will definitely be death within a few moments, there is no need to worry. My dead will not be as dramatic as the ones of anybody else, because I can be transported to another body. I will be up and ready for the next mission within a week. Two tops. So take it easy, and think that I am going for a quick vacation."

"Oh... well that is kind of a relieve..." said Nana still confused by that. "I'm going to miss you."

"Oh... Thanks kid. That's why Carter said he liked you."

"We are wasting time, people." said Bright getting exasperated "We have a reality bender on the loose, and who the hell knows where on Earth it went to... We have to finish the containment of the silpelits, get out of here, and find that creature now, Now, NOW!"

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

True to his own prediction, Munru's body died some minutes later. The rest of the silpelits on the loose had to be quickly recontained by Lucy, Nana, and 26, with the company of Irantu, Nanku and Onru, which proved to be not so difficult anymore since almost all of the soldiers left of the Diclonius Research Institute left the basement levels after the incident with the Reality Bender. And the wounded that were not dead had to be taken one by one back into the surface, which was relatively simple once the three diclonii were able to help in this endeavour too. All in all it had taken them four extra hours until the moment when they were able to gather in the headquarters of the Diclonius Research Institute.

Bright made sure to go to the main office first, since a reality bender on the loose just cannot wait for any other incident to be finished, so even before the recontainment of the silpelits was finished he made a call to the SCP Foundation.

"Dr. Jack Bright, researcher level 4, iteration 20. Temporary code   
6-0-9-D-O-G-O-F-W-A-R. Field report 11 - The Diclonius Research Institute is now under control of the SCP Foundation, since iteration 19 managed to take over the body of the Chief Director Kakuzawa, head of said organization. However before this operation would come to its end, Chief Kakuzawa released all of the SCPs trapped inside the Institute, and unknown to every member of the Foundation, they had a particular SCP that turned out to be a reality bender. This lead to a crisis where most of the personnel of the Foundation was either killed in action or heavily wounded, and we will requiere extraction of the survivors as soon as possible. The only unharmed remaining members are me and Specialist Onru from the Samsara forces. Lieutenant Munru's body has died and his memories should be copied to a different body as soon as possible. Captain Irantu and Officer Nanku are still active, even when both received considerable damage. The Chief Kakuzawa has also unleashed a modification of the Diclonius Virus onto the heart of the continent, via aerial rockets. The location of these rockets must also be found and the necessary procedures to the containment of this infection must be taken. Never the less, our main priority is to find and neutralize the reality bender, since we are entirely unaware of all its capabilities. For unknown reasons, the reality bender took Doctor Arakawa alongside it, and by her behavior she seemed to be under hypnotical influence caused by the reality bender. It's unfortunate that she is now a hostage of the reality bender, since she was our best option to counter the Diclonius Virus, but at this point her life is secondary. We have to neutralize the reality bender at all costs, even if it means that Arakawa becomes collateral damage. It's my recommendation that the 'Mobile Task Force Lambda-5: White Rabbits' be dispatched to locate and neutralize said unleashed Reality Bender. That would be all. Dr. Jack Bright out."

Bright waited in his office until he had a response within five minutes of making it.

"To Dr. Jack Bright, iteration 20. The White Rabbits will be immediately dispatched, and I will pay the Reality Bender a personal visit myself. Yours truly, Doctor Alto Clef."


	33. Suicidal Volunteers

After Bright's call to the Foundation, several emergency helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the survivors of the battle, and behind remained only the few that wanted to continue with what remained of the mission. The soldiers of the Diclonius Research Institute left as soon as they could, since they really had no courage to confront any other threat after the giant dinosaur had eaten at least fifteen of them. However, due to their involvement with the malpractices of the Diclonius Institute they were blackmailed and forced to go into retraining to replace the members of the Mobile Task Forces that had been slaughtered. Anybody that refused was immediately demoted into D-class personnel and told that they would be in charge of taking care of the cell of that exact type of dinosaur.

After around six hours since the breach of the reality bender, a last helicopter arrived, with a total of six people, aside from the pilot and copilot.

Five of them were wearing full covered helmets and a white garment, and the last person was a man with a large hat, a shotgun on his back, and, strangely enough, a ukulele at his side, that had introduced himself as "Alto Clef".

They were all gathered in the office of Chief Kakuzawa, and several doctors and people of the headquarters of the Diclonius Institute, to be interrogated about the Reality Bender.

Lucy, Nana and 26 had also been invited to be in there, the reason for this was made clear during the reunion.

"To all the people of the Diclonius Research Institute." said Bright using the body of Chief Kakuzawa "These three diclonii have been tamed by the SCP Foundation using a particular methodology discovered by them, and it has proven to be so effective that they are not just less prone to harm or kill humans, but even cooperative with them. When the time comes we will most likely implement this methodology for the majority of the silpelits contained in our facility. However, for the time being, they will be placed under anesthetics until further notice, and any experimentation on them must cease immediately. All the doctors that are still in our service will be placed in charge of this. But before that, there has been a particular silpelit that breached containment, and within five minutes of it she caused massive casualties on both the SCP Foundation, and the Diclonius Institute, therefore, it has been decided that we will join forces in an attemp to restrain her. And for this purpose, you must all share whatever knowledge you have gathered of her."

One of the people from the headquarters spoke. "She was discovered immediately after being born since we had already been monitoring hospitals for horned children being born for some years already. At first she was programmed to be killed. However we discovered that she had been born to a couple were both parents were carriers of the virus, and was decided to keep her as a special research subject, and was assigned the cell number 39."

Then one of the doctors spoke "We tried to run the standard procedures on her. But from the day she entered the facility, most of the equipment around her started to malfunction, especially when she was near the equipment itself, from syringes breaking even before they would reach her, up to computers turning off suddenly and having all the data in them wiped out. After several failed attempst at trying to detect the presence of vectors influencing the equipment, we decided to attempt a brain-scanning on her. Immediately the equipment connected to her was damaged, and when it was opened for revision, hundreds of spiders came out of it. This is particularly remarcable, since the doctor running the test at the time suffered a severe case of arachnophobia. Starting from that day onwards, strange things began to happen to anybody in charge of prisoner 39, from hearing loud and terrifying sounds that only they could hear, or seeing people they had been involved with and had died. Later on we discovered that these effects were drastically lowered when she was asleep, so it was decided to keep her under anesthetics permanently. After this, several experiments were conducted on her, including the previously failed brainscanning, which showed a strange phenomenon, since it showed a highly active area in the receptive parts of the brain, but the responsive and motor parts were entirely off. We ran several invasive surgeries on her to find if there was anything unusual in her anatomy, but the only thing different in her to any other silpelit seemed to be that the brain functionality was quite different and far more active in both the areas associated with the vector movement and control, and the telepathic connection that all diclonii share." Then the doctor sat down and went quiet.

"So in other words." Said the man with a large hat called Alto Clef "You had in your hands a particularly powerful telekinetic and telepathic monster, capable of seeing the deepest fears of anyone and turning them into reality, and that you tried to keep unconscious, but instead of being unconscious she could feel absolutely everything that was made on her and that she simply couldn't respond to, and then cut her open who knows how many times, and she is understandably angry for it. You bunch of idiots have no idea of what you have created here."

"Mister Clef." said the body of Chief Kakuzawa "I can understand the reason for your anger, but this is not the time for insults, since we also requiere the information you and your team have gathered."

"Oh shut up." said Clef "You don't always have the most... 'bright' ideas either."

The body of Kakuzawa gave a light smirk at that before adding: "Good one. Still, we need your information."

"Fair enough." continued Clef "During the first hour of the containment breach of this creature there were several emergency calls for attacks of infernal-looking-dogs, giant spiders, and fires in the heart of the Kamakura city, just right next to this island. And since we had already been informed of the containment breach, it was logical to try to find said creature in the city. Using specialized equipment we managed to detect a sphere of telekinetical energy surrounding an area of over 1 kilometer in radius. We monitored the behaviour of the sphere and saw a pattern of growth on it. It seems to have an exponential growth rate, so it means that the more it grows, the faster it keeps on growing. The growth rate seems to be about four times the initial radius of influence every twenty four hours, by tomorrow, when twenty four hours are reached since the containment breach, the size of the sphere will reach 4 kilometers, in forty eight hours since the containment breach it will reach 16 kilometers, in seventy two hours it will be 64 kilometers, and so on. This exponential growth means that the entirety of the Earth will be engulfed within her influence range in about seven days since the containment breach. In other words, we have to neutralize her as soon as possible, if we can do it today, it would be better for everyone, since waiting for too long could mean the destruction of an entire city, country, continent, or the whole planet."

The entire room went silent. Everyone was just trying to process the problem. Most of them were even entirely skeptic of it. Except of course for the oldest members of the Foundation.

"But wait, there is more. And it gets worse." said Bright in Kakuzawa's body "Apparently she can also affect the mind of people directly, since she also took Doctor Researcher Arakawa with her while the latter presented a behavior more akin to being a puppet under mental control than an actual separate person. And since the actual extent of her abilities is unknown, and since we do not know even if she is aware of all of her abilities, we will have to assume the absolute worse scenario when confronting her."

"This leads us to the next stage of our discussion." continued Clef "How to actually stop this creature. Any external attack on her could be nullified by her abilities, there is no guarantee that even a nuclear attack on her location will be effective, and since she has the ability of transporting herself anywhere, then it is possible that even if we managed to destroy her location, if she is not damaged, then she would simply appear on a new location. However, we do have one option. The Foundation has access to specialized equipments designed to neutralize the abilities of reality benders, they are called Scranton Reality Anchors. They are extremely hard to fabricate, and are therefore scarce, but we have a couple of them available for usage. They have disadvantages though, since the ones we have available have a ten meter radius of affectation, and once activated, their effect will last for a maximum time span of ten minutes, which reduces our options to a single course of action: we must send an infiltration group inside the influence range of the Reality Bender, locate it, and activate the reality anchor within ten meters of her physical location. Once her powers are neutralized, she must be quickly killed. In order to reduce her direct mental control on the people going in, every member of the infiltration group must be wearing one of the helmets brought by the Mobile Task Force Lambda-5: White Rabbits designed to reduce the telepathic effects of these creatures on the wearer. Never the less, they will be useless against a reality bend itself, so any creature or anomalous effect created by the reality bender will be seen and experienced as real."

"So, given the circumstances, we requiere volunteers for this dangerous endeavor." said Bright to everyone in the room. "Those willing to cooperate in our efforts, please stand at the center of the room."

Immediately, Clef and the White Rabbits walked directly into the center of the room, followed shortly by the three remaining Samsara soldiers. Then, nobody moved for a moment, and to everybody's surprise, the next person to move, was the silpelit 26, who walked towards the center too.

"What are you doing?" said Bright completely in disbelieve towards the little girl.

"Saving my mamma." she said without a second of hesitation. She had absolutely no idea of what she was getting herself into.

"Arakawa?" said Bright completely in disbelieve "You want to go in there to try to save Arakawa? Did you hear a single word of what was said? She is just a mental puppet now. Even if you manage to reach her alive, which I doubt, there is no guarantee that she would still be herself after the incident. She would most likely not even be the same person you met."

"I'm not going to try to save her because I want her to be the same. I am going to try to save her because I know that she would do the same for me." was the simple answer that the silpelit gave.

Immediately, and with no other word needed to be said, Lucy stepped forward and also walked towards the center of the room.

"I have a family to protect." said Lucy "And if that creature destroys the world, then that means that my family would also be destroyed. I will do what I can to prevent that."

Nana walked towards the center too, and then spoke looking at Lucy "I made my promise, Lucy. I have to watch over you and take you back home with me."

"Oh, hell no!" said Bright "That thing is capable of bringing into reality people's worst fears, and the three of you could enter into your raging mode because it's triggered by fear. So you would be the worst candidates to go down there."

"Oh, is that so?" said Clef "As I understand, the reality bender is the result of the diclonius virus, and diclonii can show more cooperation between them with a telepathic connection. Perhaps they could be useful to break her defenses."

The three diclonii had felt absolutely nothing when the reality bender had entered the cell number 35. Perhaps they could not actually reach prisoner number 39 through telepathic means. But if they said anything, there would be no reason for them to be allowed to go there, so they kept quiet about it.

Bright though on it. It was a long shot, but perhaps Clef was right. "You three have to understand that if you would go berserk down there, we would have to kill whomever does so. Besides, you have already accomplished the mission you were asked to do. Confronting a Reality Bender is really not in your obligations, and I doubt it will be in your capabilities. So I will ask you again. Do you really want to risk yourselfs in this mission?"

The three diclonii nodded.

"Very well," said Bright "I will not prevent you from participating in this suicide mission. Your presence can't really make things much worse anyway." Bright turned to look at the rest of the members of the Diclonius Research Institute. "Any other volunteers?"

Not a single one of them moved, and Bright then realized the type of spineless assholes that had been running the Diclonius Institute for so long. "Cowards." was the only thing that he said to the lot of them, and then he walked towards the center of the room too. "The reunion is finished, those who will not participate in this mission, please leave the room." The majority of the people left one by one.

"Call the Foundation," said Bright when there was not any member of the Institute left "Tell them to send someone to watch over the Diclonius Research Institute while we are gone. I don't trust any of these cowardly assholes for it. And tell them to bring adecuate equipment for the rest of our volunteers." He said looking at the three diclonii with horns on their heads.


	34. Reigns Of Terror Are Created By The Scared

The Foundation had sent Dr. Gears to watch over the Diclonius Research Institute, alongside a small contingency team in case there would be any breach, or rebellion. But since the new containment protocols were extremely simple as they were simply to keep the lot of silpelits asleep, and the job of everybody was far easier, and the fact that there was a world-level threat on the horizon, there was no major problem with them anymore.

Dr. Gears had also taken enough uniforms of the White Rabbits for all the people involved, except for Clef, who rejected it because his 'particular qualities' rendered him invulnerable to many direct reality bending attacks. The helmets had to be modified for the three diclonii to fit their horns, but this was made with relative ease. However, the helmet for the silpelit 26 was still too big and was quite loose for her head, but it was still better than nothing.

The entirety of the infiltration group was then transported in a helicopter to the exterior of the telekinetical sphere. All in all, it had taken six extra hours of preparations until they were ready to go inside. By this time 12 hours had passed since the prisoner 39 had breached containment, and the telekinetical radius had reached 2 kilometers already, and it kept on growing.

It was decided that Bright and Clef would be carrying each, one of the scranton reality anchors that they had available.

"Remember, people!" said Bright to the whole group while they were standing a couple of hundred meters away from the border of the sphere. "We have no idea of what we will find in there, and keep in mind that many of the reality bending effects can affect your mind indirectly, so be very careful of what you do in there. Not only there can be physical attacks by monsters, there can be spatial shifts, anomalous mind altering effects, and who know what else. If she can see the fear of others, then than means that she must have several thousands of minds within her reach by now and that means that there can be thousands of threats based on those fears in there. We must move quickly, or soon the entire world will be submerged in a bubble of terror. Be brave in front of your fears, and be smart to recognize any trick that we might encounter there. Everyone's helmets is armed with a telekinetic tracker, so if there is a particularly strong telepathic activity, it will bbe pointing us in the direction of the reality bender. Just follow the path the helmets ṕoint at, and we should eventually find her." He turned towards the three diclonii next and continued "No matter what happens in there, you have to saty in control. And if we tell you to do something, or not to do something, for any reason, you have to do it. Is that clear?" The three diclonii nodded, even when they were absolutely terrified. "When we find that creature, we will have to activate these anchors near her, and your mission afterwards will be to kill her immediately, if she escapes from the radius of the Reality Anchor, she might regain her power, and then we will have no more opportunities."

\----- Though I Walk Through The Valley... -----

They walked carefully towards the border of the sphere, and even when to the simple eye there was no noticeable change when they crossed the barrier, a chilling sensation passed through their spines the instant they did so.

In the distance they could hear screamings, of men, women and children entirely overtaken by terror, or even perhaps in pain, while the screeches of unseen creatures resounded around them. In the corner of their eyes, they might have begun to see shadows moving near them, a long skull with white eyes, but always at a distance. Watching them. Stalking them.

Lucy felt the hand of 26 wrapping around her own with unusual strenght, and she gave back a similar reassuring grip on hers. And then she took the hand of Nana too. To some extent, she did so not only for them, but for herself too, as it calmed her down knowing that they were with her.

As they walked down towards the center of the sphere, the view around them began to change little by little. With every step, more and more eerie things started showing around them. Perhaps they saw trees with faces that moved distorted mouths in an attempt of trying to speak, or maybe they had just imagined it. Or perhaps they saw what could have been a group of former humans with their bodies and faces partially absorbed inside walls and the floor, with a terrified and pained expression permanently marked on their faces, but it could have also been just a lot of excentric sculptures, and they could have just imagined that they were trying to vocalize something that sounded similar to 'help me'.

And yet, they kept on walking. The sky seemed to be turning to a pink-redish color, as if the blood of people would have been vaporized and their drops were ready to begin pouring down on them at any minute. But what was worse is that they actually found a lake that was seemingly filled with blood, with dead bodies floating on the surface. The dead bodies of complete strangers, or maybe they were not the bodies of complete strangers.

"Ma... mamma?" said the silpelit 26 looking directly at one of the dead bodies on the surface.

Bright turned immediately around and said to the lot of them. "Don't look at the bodies! Don't look at them! You do not recognize the bodies! They are all strangers! Don't get any closer to that lake! Just keep walking!"

"MAMMA!!!" screamed 26 letting go of Lucy's hand and running towards the blood-filled lake, where she could clearly see Arakawa's body floating in the surface.

"Don't let her touch the lake!" yelled Clef to the group, then Lucy and Nana started running in the same direction as 26, alongside one of the White Rabbits.

When 26 reached the border of the lake, she launched her vectors towards the body of Arakawa, and tried to lift it up. But the blood in the lake seemed to pull her back down, even with more strenght than what her vectors could provide.

The many corpses turned their heads covered in blood towards her, and as Lucy and Nana reached the border, they saw that among the dead bodies were Mayu, Kouta and Yuka too, and Nana could even recognize Doctor Kurama among them, and even Lucy thought she could also recognize the old friend that had saved her life.

"Join us." said all the corpses from the lake. "Come with us. Come closer." said all the corpses moving out towards them, all covered in blood while the red liquid also spilled out of their mouths.

26 looked at Arakawa getting closer to her with a vacant expression and with the red liquid continuosly pouring out of her mouth. For an instant she felt terror coursing her veins as Arakawa placed her hands over her shoulders and started dragging her down towards the lake.

"TwentySix!!!" screamed Lucy from behind her. She had already experienced how it felt to be surrounded by an illusion that was shaped like her family. She knew deep down that this was just another illusion. But not 26, for her it was real. "It's not her!" she yelled and the next instant, she slashed the corpse that was dragging 26 towards the lake, and the body that had been slashed, dissolved into blood.

26 saw in shock how Arakawa had been slashed and then turned into a pool of blood right in front of her eyes. She could not move. She could barely breath. And she heard a familiar voice and a familiar face in front of her. The pink hair and the horns, and the mouth opening and closing, as if it was trying to say something. She tried to listen to the voice. "It's not her!" said Lucy's face "Snap out of it!" continued the distant voice. "It's not her!". But 26 did not respond. So Lucy picked her up between her hands and started running away.

The corpses looked intensely towards Lucy. She had attacked. She was an enemy to be consumed. The blood from the pool started swirling, and a body began to form from the middle ot if. Red spikes and dripping fangs. Bloodied body three times the size of a human, and a deep roaring that would have striken fear on the bravest of all of mankind. Lucy turned her head and saw something akin to a nightmarish bear running in her direction. She readied her vectors and tried to slash it, but the bear's fangs clamped on one of them, and kept on running. Then another vector striked it, and did damaged it, but the wound was immediately healed, since it was already made of pure blood. The bear's fangs clamped around Lucy, but could not damage her, since Nana's vectors had surrounded her at the last instant, and pulled her immediately to the side, pushing the bear slightly which made it even more agressive. The bear incorporated ready to attack them again. And a fiery explosion surrounded it. One of the White Rabbits had shot the thing with an incendiary grenade. And then another one.

From everywhere the attacks came towards the blood-bear. The White Rabbits, The Samsaras, Bright and Clef all were shooting at the beast, which gave enough time for Lucy and Nana to run away, with 26 in Lucy's arms. The bear fell down and turned into liquid blood once more, that had still sparks of fire on it.

But the lake was not satisfied. Dozens of creatures started coming out of it. Insects and vermin. Beasts and animals. Giant Eagles and bats. All swirling around the attackers. All with the sole purpose of eating them.

The three silpelits managed to get back to the whole group, and the Samsaras created a fiery curtain around them that managed to destroy the smaller insects and creatures.

Clef's shotgun aimed at each creature once and the creature fell down immediately and turned back to blood. And apparently he did not even need to reload it, since the shotgun just kept on shooting.

"Just RUN!" said Clef's voice to the entire group. And running they did. Away from the lake and the creatures coming out of it. But the creatures were still chasing them. Two of the White Rabbits were trampled and mauled by two enormous animals of blood. And before they could do anything about it, Bright was picked up by a gigantic eagle and taken away.

The rest of the group kept on running. They saw a monolithic concrete building ahead of them and managed to enter inside it, closing a heavy and huge door behind them. The creatures on the outside could still be heard screeching and scratching the building, but since they could not open it, they eventually fell back and went away. Strangely enough, even though they had seen some windows on the outside of the building, the inside seemed to be entirely devoid of them.

As soon as the creatures on the outside went quiet, Clef turned towards the silpelit number 26 and slapped her in the face, throwing her to the floor. Immediately, Lucy and Nana stood between the two.

"You fucking idiot!" yelled Clef to her. The rage coming from him was almost tangible. "Why the fuck are you even here?!"

"Calm down, Clef." said Irantu to him. "She is still just a kid."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!" Clef's rage was still palpable. Perhaps the building itself could feel it. "Do you realize what this moron just costed us? Bright had one of the only two reality anchors, and now he was taken away by one of the blood animals, anchor and all."

"And how is screaming going to help us, Clef?" said Onru. "Is that somehow going to get us a new anchor?"

"It will give me the satisfaction of putting an idiot in its right place." finished Clef.

"That's enough!" yelled Lucy at him. "She didn't mean it."

"Of fucking course not! That is why she is an idiot." he turned his head towards 26 and continued "I hope you are happy. Your obsession with your 'mamma' is going to cost us who knows how much. If something else happens to the last reality anchor, we may not have enough time to get out and try to save the planet later. And then you can rest assured that you will never see neither your mamma nor anybody else again. At least not with sanity."

26 felt scared of the man yelling at her. His insults and slurs made her feel terrified. She had just seen the first person that had showed her tenderness being slashed and turned to blood just minutes ago. And she felt that it was her fault. The sensation of guilt. The fear. The loneliness began to take a toll on her. Lucy and Nana felt it. She was being taken over by the virus.

Lucy immediately placed her hands around 26. "No, no, no." started saying Lucy "Don't fall down that path. Don't fall down that path. You are not alone. You are not alone, TwentySix!"

But it was too late. The coldness in her eyes. The detatchment from reality. And the desire for destruction. 26's vectors manifested and went towards Clef's location. But her vectors never reached him. He had simply aimed his shotgun and shot her. 26's left arm was torn and broken by the shot. She screamed in pain, and the shock made her unable to use her vectors, but the voice of the virus was still there, although it was simply not able to kill anybody now.

"You BASTARD!!!" screamed Lucy and readied her own vectors to attack Clef. But in little less than a second later, Clef's shotgun was touching her nose.

"Go ahead. Give me a reason to do it." said Clef without doubt on his voice. He was far worse than Bright. Bright was relentless and uncaring, this guy was just plain sadistic.

Clef then suddenly felt an invisible force surrounding his neck. Nana was not going to let anybody hurt Lucy.

"You better think that again." said Nana to Clef filled with determination herself.

"Oh, a fighting duo. I like that." said Clef, who immediately moved his ukulele on his side and aimed the bottom at Nana's neck. There was a metallic spike at the end of it. Obviously a dart that could be deadly if shot. "This is a rather interesting turn of events. Who is going to be the first to attack?"

"What the hell are you?" asked Lucy to Clef.

"I'm a magical fairy from another dimension." said Clef in all seriousness "These two are my magic wands. Should I cast a spell on both of you?"

"That's enough from all of you!" said Nanku from the side. "Clef, lower you shotgun, and your ukulele. And I can't believe I just said that. Nana, put your vectors away too. And Lucy, stay calmed."

Slowly, but steadily, everybody just let down their weapons, and the tension started to dissipate.

"You hurt TwentySix." said Lucy trying to scold Clef.

"Just be grateful that I didn't blow her head off." was his response. "She tried to attack me in the first place."

"And whose fault is that, Clef?" said Lucy to him. "You knew that she is still not the most stable silpelit, and you started scolding her for something she didn't mean to do."

"Excellent, the next time I'll be walking around in eggshells for her. Thank you for the advise." he said sarcastically.

"Clef, just stop it." said Nanku this time. "You had your fun, now let them be."

"Fine. Whatever. We still need to find that little monster that is roaming somewhere outside."

Onru got closer to the silpelit 26 and revised her wound. She could do something about it. There seemed to be no bullet inside her, so it was relatively simple to patch her, and cure her. Onru then improvised a tourniquette and a cast with a piece of clothing, and a long piece of concrete that she cut from the building they were in. But 26's emotions still reflected that deep seated loneliness and fear. So it was then the turn for Lucy and Nana to calm her down by holding her close and with as much tenderness as they could. After a while, the loneliness started to go away, and she turned once again into the same tamed child that had walked inside the sphere with them, except this time she was very much afraid of Clef.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the little incident had died out, Irantu tried to open the front door again to get out. But something strange happened... there was no outside. The door lead to a solid wall. It was a dead end.

"Oh, shit!" said Clef realizing of what had happened. "The building is shifting. We are going to have to find another way out."

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Lucy getting more and more exasperated. She really had not realized how tiresome this little trip would get.

"There is only one way." said Clef "Opening doors and seeing what's inside. If we find one door that leads outside, then we take that one. It will be enough if we find one room with windows that actually leads outside, or even an open rooftop, because if there is one thing that you have to understand, is that once you are in a space-shifting building, you can't be picky on what type of exit you find."

Only one way to move ahead, and no time to waste. There was another door in the same room where they were right now, and when they opened it, they found a long and narrow hallway with solid walls, with one more door at the end of it. They all went inside and walked down the hallway. The door behind them slammed shut, and the door they had come from disappeared. The walls around them started coming closer together.

"Shit! RUN!" yelled Clef, and they did so.

They were getting closer to the door, but the walls around them were coming closer together too fast, and they would be crushed between them.

A loud sound behind all of them. Irantu was pressing his back against one of the walls, and his feet over the other, with his propellers set at maximum, pushing against the closing walls, and the walls started to slow down.

"KEEP RUNNING!!!" ordered Irantu to his team. "JUST KEEP RUNNING!!!" Not a second to waste, they got to the door on the other side, opened it and got through, then Irantu's body was crushed by the closing walls.

"Oh god damn it!" said Nanku. "He still ows me five bucks!"

"NANKU!" yelled Onru back at her.

"Oh. Right... Wrong emotion."

"You are lucky we can bring him back." continued Onru "Well, that is if the planet survives the week."

"Oh... great, just great!" said Clef irritated "Now we are another Samsara soldier short!"

"Irantu saved us, Clef." said Onru "All we can do now is keep on going."

"I know. It's still irritating, though." finished Clef.

They looked around and realized that they were in an enormous part of the building. There was a series of balconies one on top of the other, surrounding a central squared hole that led to an open rooftop that seemed to have been broken through. There were way too many balconies and levels both upwards and downwards by comparison to the external size of the building they had entered in, and they all looked exactly the same. It must have been a self-replicating effect.

Somewhere beneath them, there was the distant sound of running water. As if a river would be raging downbelow the balcony they were in.

"That is our exit." said Clef looking at the open rooftop, "Now we will have to climb upwards. Don't separate from each other." 

There were at least nine balconies above them, and they would have to climb them all. Lucy and Nana were able to use their vectors to pull themselves and others towards the rooftop, and the two remaining Samsaras had grappling hooks that they could use to climb too, unfortunately, 26's vectors were still blocked so she couldn't help at this, and had to be carried.

The sound of the running water started getting closer. Beneath them the lower balconies were being flooded and swallowed by an enormous whirlpool, and the instant they noticed, they realized they were going to be swallowed up in it within minutes if they did not get out.

They hurried their rythm, and managed to reach the last balcony, and almost all of them were over the rooftop, except for the last White Rabbit, that was being pulled up by Nanku with her own grappling hook. And just when it seemed taht it was going to be over, a gigantic mouth with teeth big as an entire person jumped out of the water beneath and swallowed him whole, while a long and hugely wide neck and elongated body came outside of the water several meters high, and then fell vertically downwards just as suddenly as it had came out of.

None of them could react. The giant eel was huge, and the only thing they could do was stare at it for a second before it dissapeared from sight again.

Lucy, Nana and 26 were trembling and with a terrified and surprised expression in their faces. That was beyond anything they had ever seen. That thing could have eaten them all in a single bite. They got lucky that it didn't.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the shock of seeing that monster coming out of the water, they looked around them, and realized that they were not on the roof of the same building. They were not even in the same part of the town, since they could no longer see the blood-lake anywhere. They were on top of a two-stories squared mall. The entirety of the building they had come out from used to be only a two stories high building, but the space-shifting caused by the reality bender had replicated its interior several times over.

The helmets on their heads kept beeping, and showed that they were a lot closer than before to the center of the telepathic origin. Good news, at least.

Clef jumped down to the ground beneath with no warning or help, and landed with ease. Lucy took 26 between her arms, and jumped too. Nanku and Onru used their grappling hooks to hold on the side of the building and down to the ground and the last two remaining White rabbits used the same lines to go down. Now they had to follow the direction towards the signals in their helmets were aiming.

They walked through the streest of a desolated and destroyed city, seeing shadows at the distance running scared of other shadows chasing them.

"Help me." said a childlish voice from behind the corner in front of them. "I'm scared. Please help me."

They had all already seen way too many things as to be too trustful of their own senses by now, so they kept moving forward being careful, and sticking together.

As soon as they got closer to the corner, they saw again the same red creatures with no face and pure teeth, that had come out first from the cell number 35. Hundreds of them, gathered together. And beside them there was also another copy of the same giant lizard with hair too, but it was trying to eat the red things while the red things were biting it everywhere.

"Please don't eat me." said one of the red creatures with the same childish voice, like a parrot repeating the last sounds it had heard from its previous victims.

Nanku and Onru readied their weapons and torched half of the street in front of them with fire burning dozens of them to a crisp, and the whole group started running away from the creatures.

The White Rabbits kept shooting their machineguns at the creatures that came forward while they kept running, slowing them down. But it wasn't enough. One of the red monsters managed to bite one of them and took him down, and was immediately surrounded by a plethora of them that ripped him into pieces. Nana and Lucy were using their vectors on any of the creatures that got close enuogh for it.

Clef was also shooting the red critters with his shotgun over and over again, and each shot managed to bounce at least into three creatures each time killing them all instantly.

Lucy tripped and fell to the ground still holding TwentySix in her arms, and the red creatures were all over them. Lucy managed to slice some of them, but they kept on coming, and they were not stopping. Lucy saw one of the mouths opening right in front of her face... and then the entirety of the group surrounding them got sliced to pieces. In a moment of desperation, TwentySix had managed to take her vectors out again and slaughter most of the red creatures close to any of them. Lucy incorporated, picked her up once more and kept running.

A deep roaring was heard from behind them. The giant lizard was now moving quickly towards their way. Nanku, suddenly stopped, and said to Onru. "Go ahead and finish this!"

Onru understood what was going to happen, nodded and kept the rest of the group ahead of her, while she still ran.

Nanku, on her part, started blasting away whichever creature crossed her path, and moved towards the giant dinosaur. With her propellers, she jumped above the creature's head and landed on his back. Nanku activated a self destruction sequence, and within seconds, a huge explosion coming from her took down almost all of the red creatures around down with her, and the giant dinosaur fell too. But this lizard was far more resilient than many creatures, and, although knocked out, it started to regenerate quickly.

\----- ...Of The Shadow Of Death... -----

The rest of them managed to hide behind another building, and the few remaining red creatures that were behind them were either sliced by the diclonii, or shot down by one of the Foundation's members.

"There is no time to rest." said Clef to the group. "Those things could return at any time, or we could find other creatures just as bad. We need to keep..."

"Dad." said a weakened female voice coming from the side of the building they were taking cover at. They all turned their heads. A naked blonde woman, of around sixteen years old, that was covering herself only with her hands, and holding a crucifix in her right hand, was bumbling slowly towards them. She was entirely covered in bruises, and was bleeding all over, specially between her legs.

"Not her." Whispered Clef. "It's. Not. Her." he said the last part getting more and more angered with each word.

The blonde woman kept bumbling, and dragging her feet slowly towards the middle of the group, then she fell on her knees and crashed her head on Clef's stomach.

"EPON!" yelled Clef, holding her between his arms.

"OH, GOD!!!" said the last White Rabbit still alive. "SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!" and he started running towards the blonde woman. Immediately, Clef lifted his shotgun and blew his head off.

"You weren't there, dad." Said the blonde woman. "Why weren't you there? You could have protected me. You should have protected me. Why did you abandon me? Why did you leave me? Why?"

"Epon... I... was protecting you... the only way I could... By keeping you safe from... the ones that would have come for me."

"No. You were being selfish. You were just a coward." she said to him. "Mother was right about you. You are weak. You have always been weak."

"No, Epon... I... I..." Clef went quiet, and then he started laughing. An amused and loud laughter was coming out from him. "You. Little. BITCH!" he yelled at the air while still laughing. "You nearly had me!!! But I'm not that stupid!!! I'm Not That NAIVE!!! I AM NOT THAT WEAK!!!" Clef sealed his hands around the blonde girl's neck, choking her. The blonde woman started moving her arms and legs in desperation, trying to get away from Clef's deadly grip. And Alto Clef looked away from her face, and away from her body, as he took the life from her. He did not stop. He would not stop. And eventually, the blonde woman's body went limp and her stare went blank.

Clef's laughter kept coming out of him, and in a calmed and amused tone he said "I'm going to kill that little bitch." And then his face was filled with an expression of pure rage and hatred "I am going to KILL that little BITCH!!!" he screamed at the air.

There was a sudden earthquake around all of them. And a horrifying sensation of dreadfulness filled the air all around them.

"Run." said Onru to the diclonii as soon as she felt the sensation of dreadfulness. "RUN!" and she began pushing them away from Clef.

Clef's body was suddenly surrounded by an amorphous black mass, that began to stretch all around him, similar to tendrils stretching all over the place. The creatures that kept coming from behind them were touched by the black tendrils, and they began to be dragged down towards Clef's feet, then they were completely covered by the dark mass and immediately consumed by the darkness, never to rise again. The giant lizard came close towards them too, and the dark tendrils grabbed hold of it and dragged him down towards the darkness beneath Clef's feet, making it dissapear and eating it whole.

The black tendrils continued stretching each time further away. Not discriminating from friends or enemies. It reached towards Onru's body, and it started pulling her down back towards the darkness. Lucy and Nana tried to hold onto her, but she simply told them "Keep running! Don't look back!" and she immediately pushed their hands away from her, and activated her self destruction sequence that would be finished the instant that she reached Clef's feet. The explosion destroyed a part of the black mass, but it wasn't enough. The black tendrils kept on stretching and swirling around him, attaching themselves to everything they touched, and dragging them for consumption. Each object that was engulfed, made the black mass grow, and the tendrils grow even longer. One of the tendrils latched onto Lucy's left leg, and started dragging her towards the black mass. Lucy held to the ground using her vectors, and Nana tried to pull her back to safety with her own. But the tendrils were too strong, and Lucy feared that the only way to save herself would be to cut off her own leg. She looked at her leg, ready to slash it. But a sudden explosion fell over the very center of the Black Mass, which made the tendril let go of Lucy's leg.

Up in the sky, they saw a giant red eagle dripping blood flying just over Clef's position, avoiding the tendrils coming its way. Jack Bright was back, and he had managed to take control of the blood-eagle, and found a way to ride over it, using his necklace, the SCP-963. And now he was dropping grenades over Clef's black and amorphous mass.

\----- ...I shall fear no evil... -----

Lucy took Nana and 26 to the nearest building that seemed to be relatively quiet and away from any chaos, but this time they did not made the mistake of entering it, since it could be another laberinthian space-warped hell. And at the distance they could still hear the explosions falling from the sky. Neither of them had any idea of what to do now. There were no Foundation members left, and none of them had the necessary means to survive in this nightmare-land.

"Lucy." said Nana to her. "What are we going to do now?"

Lucy looked around her, and there seemed to be no clear path to follow. If they tried to go back and outside of the sphere of influence of the reality bender, they would most likely find even more monsters and terrifying things in their way out, which would most likely mean they would die. If they stayed still, they would eventually be found by another creature and get killed. If they tried to hide, they would eventually starve to death. And there seemed to be no place to run away from the influence of the demonic child that had created this realm of terror.

"I don't know, Nana. I think we are going to die here." she said filled with despair.

The helmets on their heads kept showing the direction where the biggest telepathic behaviour was. It pointed towards Clef, but it also pointed towards a different location. It pointed towards a place not too far from them now. Only one hundred meters away. Just several steps behind them.

Lucy let out a laughter. She finally understood. The reason why Bright, and Clef, and basically all the members of the Foundation were so cold and bold. It wasn't because they were just crazy. It was because they understood a dark joke about the universe. All jokes are funny because they hold a bit of truth in them, and a little bit of terror too. The joke was this: the universe does not give a damn. It will eat you if you let it. And it will always eat you in the end. It will just as happily let the people you love die before your eyes, while a tyrant remains in power destroying everything within its reach, and while children scream in agonizing pain in a chamber somewhere. It would let entire planets be engulfed by the dying stars that had once given life to them, or let them be set on fire by asteroids that were simply passing by because of a bad coincidence. For the destruction of the world and everything you hold dear is just one mad man away from pressing a button that could lead to thousands of nuclear bombs dropping all over the planet. You were always just one missed bullet away from your own death. And the universe will always eat you in the end.

So now they were left alone with no resources to either escape or survive in this cursed land, or a team to hold their backs. And no way to win a fight against the monster that awaited them at the center of the telepathic sphere. But what did it matter anymore? If they were going to die in here anyway, they might as well try to take down the bitch with them.

"Nana. TwentySix." said Lucy to them and she hugged both of them tightly. "I don't think we will get out of this alive. But maybe we can try to make our deaths mean something." Lucy raised her head and looked towards the place the helmet was pointing at. "In that direction there is the reality bender. We have no real way of defeating her. And we have no way of escaping her. But maybe we can try to take her down. We will most likely fail and get killed. Or perhaps something worse than death might be awaiting for us. But we are already doomed to the same fate anyway. It's too late to go back now. Tell me, would you like to see this through with me? Would you like to come and try to put an end to the monster? Maybe we won't survive. But at least we can try to save the world with our lives."

Nana and TwentySix lowered their heads. None of them wanted to die. But after everything they had been through, what difference did it made? Lucy was right. They might as well try.

"Even if I don't see my mamma again." said TwentySix "I would like to think of you two as my family. Thank you for letting me out of the darkness in the cells. And thank you for being kind to me."

"We will be together until the end." said Nana to both of them.

They all shared a last embrace, and then walked towards the location of the silpelit number 39, in a last defiance against a force of the universe determined to eat them.

\----- ...for you are with me. -----

The three diclonii walked towards the place where the helmets were pointing. They found themselves in front of what might have been a watery curtain in another spherical shape surrounding another radius of fifty meters at least. As they got closer, they noticed that there really was no water, but only was a distortion of the air itself. Lucy placed her hand on the surface, and nothing happened. Then she placed her vector through, and nothing happened. She then placed her entire arm inside, and still, nothing happened. And finally, she took a deep breath, and passed through the sphere. She found herself inside a beautiful park. Surrounded with green trees, and pastures, multicolored flowers everywhere, with a blue sky, and a sun that was warm, but not burning, and even there was a circular river with no beginning or end, flowing permanently in a single direction, but not with water, but with a white substance that looked and smelled like ice cream. If Lucy didn't know better, she would have thought that this place was home to an angel, and not the demon it belonged to.

Lucy then sticked her neck and arm outside, and signaled the other two that it seemed safe enough, and they entered alongside her.

At the distance, they heard a childlish laughter, and saw the little girl with horns and pink hair running around, while the woman with black hair chased her, until she catched her, the child laughed, and then the game started again. TwentySix knew that this was Arakawa's dream made reality, a place where she could take care of the children she loved... forever and ever. Except in this case, she had no choice either to stop, or whom she would be taking care of. Only Arakawa and 39, playing a never ending game, over and over again.

The three diclonii walked towards the center of this place, and then the silpelit 39 noticed their presence, and she stopped running around, only to be picked up in Arakawa's arms.

"Look, mamma. We have viitors." said 39 looking intensely in their direction.

"You are right, darling." answered Arakawa with a vacant expression in her eyes and an equaly empty smile on her face.

"And we don't like visitors, right mamma?"

"No, we don't like them. Not at all."

"Mamma!" yelled 26 looking at Arakawa, and she started running towards her, but even before she would be ten steps away from them, she felt an invisible force that launched her far away and to the ground.

Lucy and Nana ran towards 26 to try to help her. And the childish laughter of 39 was heard, mocking them. Lucy and Nana were both enraged against the creepy little beast that was looking at them like butterflies she was about to rip the wings from.

Lucy prepared her vectors to try to slither them towards the little monster without her noticing. Nana and 26, thought of something similar. Arakawa walked towards them with 39 in her arms. And when she was close enough, all the vectors from the diclonii were launched against 39, and they all bounced back just milimeters away from either of them.

39's eyes shimmered for an instant, and they all felt a horrible pain crossing their bodies, as if being crushed and burnt between two giant metallic plates that had been heated almost to the point of melting. Their screaming filled the air around them. And just as suddenly as it started, the pain stopped.

"I don't like any of you." said 39 with a sadistic smile on her face. "I can see you fears. I can see them as clear as day. I think I'm going to show them to you."

A mirror the size of a door appeared before Lucy, and she saw her reflection staring at her, and from the mirror, Lucy's reflection stepped outside, with rage and hatred reflected on her face, looking directly at her, and the mirror instantaneously dissapeared.

"Nana." a man's voice was heard from behind them, and Nana turned her head to see who it was.

"D-Dad?" said Nana looking at Doctor Kurama before her, and holding Mariko in his arms.

From the ground in fornt of 26 a metallic structure started to form, and it looked exactly as the cannons in the laboratories of the Diclonius Research Institute, but it now had metallic tubes with syringes, scalpels, pliers and broken pieces of glass on their tips.

\-------------------------

Lucy's reflection launched her vectors towards the real Lucy, and the real Lucy catched them with her own. But the raging reflection had no intention of stopping, and kicked her in the face.

Lucy and her reflection latched into an equaly matched fight, trying to hit the other with their own vectors, or reaching the other one's neck to try and choke it to death.

"You are a raging monster." said the reflection at Lucy. "You will kill everybody you care about. And willalways be hated for it."

"Shut up!" screamed Lucy back at it, while launching one of her vectors at the reflection's face, which was immediately deflected by the other one's vectors.

The reflection managed to pin Lucy to the ground, and started pressing Lucy's neck, stopping the air from entering her lungs. Lucy tried to push the other away, to no avail, since their vectors were also latched to one another.

"After I kill you, I will go hunting them." said the reflection to Lucy. "I will kill everyone you love, I will start with Nana and that little new friend you made, then I will go after Yuka, Mayu and Kouta. They are all going to die by your hand!"

Lucy's anger grew, and hatred towards the creature before her. She looked like her, but she was not her. She was just a fake copy, and a threat to those she cared for. No way in hell was she going to let it win.

Lucy turned off her vectors, which made the reflection lose track of them for a brief instant, just long enough as to let Lucy turn them back on, and threw them straight through her chest, and with a particular vile and hate-filled expression on her face, Lucy ripped her reflection in half while letting out a scream of pained anger leaving her body. Nobody threatens her family. Nobody. Specially herself.

\-------------------------

"You are no longer useful, Nana." said Doctor Kurama at Nana. "I already have my real daughter with me, so you are no longer required."

"D-dad... what are you saying?" Nana's voice was filled with confusion and sorrow. Her had was killed alongside Mariko. She knew this had to be a trick.

"You were just a cheap replacement, Nana." kept saying Kurama at her. "And now that my real daughter is with me, it's time for you to die."

"Hold still, I'll make it quick." said the voice of Mariko from Kurama's arms, and she immediately threw her vectors at Nana.

Nana had just barely enough time to react and managed to cover herself with her own vectors, but they didn't stop her from being blown away, and soon enough Mariko's vectors were over her trying to open her vectors, and launching her own against her body, bruising her all over.

The pain was horrible, the fear was filling her, and the anger too. But worse still was the words that had come out of her dad's mouth. She felt, for the first time in a long time, very, very alone. Her mind went blank for a second, and the voice of the virus took over her. Her vectors took a life of their own, and started moving rapidly around her, deflecting all the vectors from Mariko, creating a brise that was both terrifying, and evidence of her desire and decision for destruction.

Nana walked calmedly towards Mariko and doctor Kurama, and in a split second, they were both shredded to pieces.

Lucy had just destroyed her reflection and she saw how Nana torned her father and Mariko into pieces, and noticed the blank expression in her face as she did so. She also felt the sensation of loneliness coming from her, and she knew that Nana had been taken over by the virus.

Nana turned her head towards Lucy, and used her vectors to jump towards her. She was going on a rampage and she was not going to stop.

Lucy felt her heart crushing as she had to fend off her little sister that had gone out of control. She did not wanted to harm her. She did not wanted to hurt her again. She just wanted to take her home safe. And now they were latched fighting against each other, while Nana tried to kill her for no real reason, and Lucy just wanted her to stop.

\----------------------------------------

The machine aimed its cannon at 26's head and opened fire, she managed to get her vectors in the way, but she was too sacred of that thing in front of her, so she started running away from it. The machine chased her, and tried to slash her with the instruments in the tip of the tubes. 26's vectors were able to protect her, but she just couldn't launch them against that thing... it seemed just too big for her... too much fear was coursing her veins.

26 kept on running away from the machine, but eventually one of the tubes managed to find a way to latch itself on 26's arm, and then opened a mouth-like opening in front of it, and swallowed the silpelit.

26 found herself locked inside the darkness. Surrounded by the same metal cage that she was so terrified of being in. And a sudden flash of images came to her head. Arakawa's smiling face, and the touch of Arakawa's hand over her head. Even her voice singing to her.

26 had the strangest of impulses. Her vectors were completely unleashed and the machine she had just been locked inside was entirely destroyed, and she landed on the ground slowly, aided by her own vectors. Her mamma needed her help. She had been imprisoned by the monster in this place and she had come all the way here just to rescue her.

"Mamma!!!" she screamed towards the place where 39 and Arakawa were standing looking at the entire chaos that 39 had created. "Wake up, mamma!" she started to walk towards them.

Another machine of the same sort appeared between her and her objective, and was immediately torn into pieces. Then another came, and another one. All of those machines would not stop her now. She had to reach her mamma, and she was going to do so with all her will.

"Mamma! Wake up!" kept yelling 26.

"She is not your mamma!!!" screamed 39 enraged. "She is mine!!! MINE!!!" she looked at 26 with pure rage. She was going to prove that she was only hers, so she turned towards Arakawa, and said. "Mamma, she is annoying. Kill her."

"Of course, darling." said Arakawa with that vacant smile on her face, she placed 39 on the ground, and calmedly walked towards 26.

26 saw Arakawa walking towards her, and felt a burst of fear. She launched her vectors to try to restrain Arakawa, but she just kept on walking, as if there was nothing between the two. And Arakawa placed her hands over 26's neck and pressed as hard as she could.

26 started lashing at Arakawa with her own vectors, her hands and feet, but not a single scratch appeared on her body. Arakawa's mind was under the control of 39... Arakawa's mind...

The helmet... In an impulse, 26 removed the helmet from her head and placed it over Arakawa's head. In a split second, Arakawa's empty smile was erased. And the grip on her hands got loose, and 26's body fell to the ground barely conscious.

"W-what...? W-where am I?" said Arakawa barely recalling what had happened, as if it would have been a dream, and then she noticed the silpelit at her feet. "TwentySix!!!" Arakawa held the silpelit between her hands.

26 turned her head back at her and said "Mamma... I got you back..."

"What happened 26?" asked gently Arakawa.

"No! Kill her! Mamma! Kill her!" screamed 39 from the side.

Arakawa turned her head and saw the other silpelit. "Is that you, ThirtyNine? You were asleep. You had always been asleep." Arakawa ran towards her and placed her arms around her "I'm so glad you are awake!"

39 felt both confused and out of place. What had happened? Just a second ago Arakawa had been doing everything she wanted. Why was she not doing that anymore? And more importantly, why was she not feeling angry for it?

"Ma-Mamma?" said 39. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging you, of course." said Arakawa to her, and 39 felt completely paralysed. She could not think anything, and just felt the honest embrace far more comforting than the way that Arakawa had been holding her before, since the ones before this one, were entirely mechanical.

Arakawa then started to regain awareness of what was around them. She was in a very nice park, with some nice flowers, and near a river of ice cream, alongside two of her children, but there was also two more diclonii fighting one another on the side.

Lucy just wanted to stop the fighting, but Nana kept on attacking. She had an idea of what had to be done, but she did not liked it, and yet it might have been the only way to break out from the fight. With a lot of effort, Lucy managed to place one of her vectors on Nana's head, abd managed to blcok her vectors without harming her any further. Nana's body fell limp over Lucy, and her four limbs detached from her.

"Nana!" said Lucy to her, looking into her distant stare, knowing that although her vectors were off, the virus was still in control. "Snap out of it Nana! Please, Nana!" Lucy hugged her as hard as she could, trying to bring her sweet sister back. "I love you sister. We all love you. You are not alone! You are not alone! Please Nana, wake up!"

"Lucy..." said Nana's voice near her ear. "I attacked you Lucy." she had her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Nana was back.

"It's alright Nana, it wasn't your fault." and Lucy embraced her just as tightly as before, and Nana tried to surround her with the stumps she had, which was both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

"Lucy..." said Nana to her, and Lucy looked at her eyes. "I want to go home."

Lucy just nodded, and placed Nana on the ground. "Please wait for me." Lucy then started walking towards where Arakawa was alongside 26 and 39.

Lucy readied her vectors, and the expression of anger in her face was enough for Arakawa to know what her intentions were.

Arakawa stood up and placed opened her arms in a vanal gesture to try to shield both silpelits behind her back.

"Please, don't hurt them." she begged to Lucy.

"Step aside, Arakawa. That little monster has to be stopped."

"You are a diclonius too, aren't you?Why do you want to harm them?"

"I don't want to harm them. Only to ThirtyNine. She has created chaos and destruction from the instant she woke up."

"What are you talking about?" Arakawa had no idea of what had happened, and was entirely oblivious to everything.

"You don't know, do you?" said Lucy to her, then she turned her gaze towards 39 and said. "Go ahead and show her. Show her what you are! Show her what you have done! Show her! If you have any guts, then show her!"

"Mamma..." whispered 39 lowering her head to the ground. The park began to crumble around them. The screams of people at the distance, and the screeches of horrible creatures filtered through the false security of the lie that 39 had built around herself and Arakawa.

"What... is this?" said Arakawa looking at the grimm scenery all around them.

"ThirtyNine is a reality bender." said Lucy to her. "She can affect reality however she likes, and she has turned the fears and nightmares of everybody in the city into a reality. She could still do the same to the entire world. She has to be stopped." Lucy tried to push Arakawa to the side to reach 39, but Arakawa held her back.

"Wait! Please! Maybe I can talk to her... maybe she will listen..."

"She is too dangerous to be left alive!" said Lucy to her

"And so were you!" yelled Arakawa to her "And yet here you are! Let me talk to her. If I fail, then nothing changes."

Lucy nodded, and let Arakawa walk towards the silpelit on the ground.

"ThirtyNine, did you do this? Is it true?"

39 nodded her head.

"Why?"

"They hurt me. They always hurt me. All I know is pain. You were the only one, mamma. The only one that ever showed even the slightest caring for me. Even when I was asleep I could hear your voice singing to me. It gave me hope. It gave me strenght. I just wanted to be with you. I just wanted you to be with me. And I wanted to make everyone else feel the same as I felt."

"ThirtyNine, look around you. Is this what you truly want? That people be permanently scared of you? That people hate you? Is the fear of people what you truly want? If that were true, then why did you let me be with you unharmed? It was because I showed you a bit of love, wasn't it? Isn't that what you want deep down? Behind all the pain, behind all the fear, isn't that what you really wanted?"

ThirtyNine lifted her head and looked at Arakawa's eyes, with teary eyes herself.

"Mamma... I'm scared." she whimpered.

Arakawa held her between her arms again, and answered her. "You didn't want this. You are just a child with too much power, and you don't know what to do with it." Arakawa passed her hand through her hair. "I know you have suffered at the hands of mean people, and you did not deserve it. But please, be better than them. I know you can be better than them."

Once more, Arakawa felt another impulse of what she had to do for the girl between her arms.

"In the sunlight or the rain, brightest nights or darkest days, I'll always feel the same way." Arakawa knew that singing to ThirtyNine might show her the love she needed right now "Whatever road you may be on, know you're never too far gone. My love is there, wherever you may be. Just remember that you'll always be my baby."

ThirtyNine could feel the fear in her heart receding and embraced Arakawa tightly. She then stood up and walked forward, leaving Arakawa behind her for a moment. She took a deep breath, and looked at the red sky around them, and with a swift movement of her arms, the sky cleared and the screamings went quiet. She turned around to look at Arakawa and said. "Thank you, mamma."

An eagle screech was heard from above, and a metallic spear-like machine landed from the sky just right next to 39. It released an explosive electric shock that hit 39 straight over.

39 screamed in pain "AAAAHHH!!! MAMMA!!! IT HURTS!!!" the Scranton Reality Anchor had done its job.

Arakawa immediately launched herself to pick her up in her arms. And a shotgun shot came their way, hitting Arakawa right in the arm, and she started bleeding profusely. She lifted her head and saw a man at the distance, with a large hat aiming a shotgun at them.

Lucy looked at the direction from where the shot had come from. "Clef! NO!" she screamed and noticed another shot coming their way, and Lucy catched it with her vectors. Little did she know that Clef's bullets were not normal, and she felt an electric shock passing through her vectors and into her body, making her scream in pain.

Arakawa took 39 between her arms, and started running, and Lucy went alongside them. Alto Clef started running towards them too.

Arakawa fell to the ground, as she was losing a lot of blood, and 39 fell from her arms in front of her. Arakawa tried to reach out for her...

Alto Clef saw the ground around Arawa, Lucy and 39 morphing into an enclosed structure surrounding the three of them. Seconds later Clef reached the structure, and saw the structure breaking to pieces. Behind it, there were Lucy, Arakawa, and the bleeding and decapitated body of 39.

Immediately after, Bright landed near them on his blood-eagle, and the eagle immediately dissolved back to blood.

"Well. Looks like the job is done." said Bright looking at the dead silpelit on the ground.

Clef knew far better about lies and liers than anybody. He came closer to Arakawa and took her arm between his hands, and saw that she had not a single scratch on it, despite the fact that he had shot her through it. Then he took a stone from the ground, and threw it at Lucy. Lucy's face recieved the full hit of the stone.

Clef took Arakawa by the neck and pressed hard. "You let my prey get away!" he told her, slapped her on the face and then she fell to the ground.

"What are you doing?" said Bright to Clef.

"It's a decoy." he said signaling the dead silpelit on the ground. "Lucy's vectors were blocked with one of my bullets, she couldn't have decapitated her, nor destroy the structure."

"She won't hurt anybody anymore." said Arakawa holding her neck. "She promised me."

"And you believed her?" said Clef "You fucking idiot! There is only one certain way to deal with reality benders and that is to eliminate them when you have the chance!"

"Oh god damn it... you let her get away?" said Bright looking almost perplexed at Arakawa and Lucy. "Fuck, now we are going to have to start all over again. What the hell are we going to say at the Foundation now?"

"Don't you see what's before your eyes, Bright?" said Clef surprising everybody. "Prisoner 39 is dead."

Bright looked at the dead body on the ground, and laughed... "Indeed. Prisoner 39 is dead." He picked up the dead body from the ground with head included, then he turned his own head and looked at Arakawa, and mockingly said. "Long live prisoner 39." And he walked away alongside Clef.

"What do you think will happen now?" asked Bright to Clef.

"She might try to go into hidding." said Clef "Will keep a low profile and avoid using her powers too much. But she will eventually use them again. All Reality Benders do the same. They always eventually use their powers for their own gains."

Bright looked at Clef "Not all of them. Not always."

Clef let out an amused laughter. "Hey, Bright." he said "I'll race you to find her."

"Sounds good to me." said Bright as his sole response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SCPs referenced in this chapter:
> 
> SCP-1471
> 
> A fusion between SCP-2316 and SCP-354
> 
> Building inspired but not based on SCP-1730
> 
> SCP-3000
> 
> SCP-166


	35. Epilogues and Special Containment Procedures

Lucy picked up Nana with her arms, and re-attached her limbs back in their place. Arakawa took 26 with her, and they followed Bright and Clef all the way back to a pick up point, where a helicopter would be waiting for them. As they did, Arakawa saw hundreds of buildings destroyed, and people crying all over the streets, which made her ask herself the question 'What did ThirtyNine do?' and 'Did I do what was right by letting her get away?' But for Lucy, TwentySix and Nana, seeing the buildings destroyed and the people in the streets, although depressing, was a relieve, since there was no longer monsters chasing and eating people everywhere, even if that thought itself was kind of selfish.

The helicopter landed and took them back to the island of the Diclonius Research Institute. Bright then made a call to the Foundation telling them that the mission had been a success, and asking for amnesiacs to be distributed to the entire city, alongside a coverup story of an earthquake that caused a massive underground gas-leak that was responsible for the death and destruction found, and the loss of memory from the populace.

Later on, the surviving members of the group that had gone into the confrontation were gathered in the office of the Director, since Bright had to tell all of them several news.

"First of all, nobody will mention again the escape of prisoner number 39. She has been officially terminated. If any of you ever opens your mouth on the matter, it will be grounds for your own termination. Second of all, I have bad news for you, Arakawa." Arakawa looked at him, scared of what might come next. "We tried our best to keep the number of casualties of the silpelits to a minimum. But you have to understand that they were still aggressive and dangerous SCPs, and we had to use whatever means necessary to protect our personnel."

Arakawa looked at the ground and took a deep breath, as she tried to prepare herself for the upcoming blow.

"How many?" asked Arakawa with a sorrowful tone of voice. "How many silpelits died?"

Bright looked at her with sympathy, and said out loud "Not counting prisoner 39. Twenty Three."

Twenty three. Twenty three too many. Arakawa closed her eyes, and a tear came out running down her cheek. Something broke inside her at that instant, and died an excruciating and painful death.

"Excuse me..." she said and went inside a bathroom were she could cry without being seen.

Her cries and sobbing lasted for quite some time. But in the end, she had to come out, still sobbing and with her eyes red because of it, but a bit more calmed down. The silpelit 26 went over to her and hugged her.

Bright placed his hand on her shoulder and asked "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yes... It's just... I couldn't fulfill so many promises. I really wanted to help them. I really wanted to save them. And I couldn't. I failed them. All twenty three of them. I wish I could have done more. I SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE!" she broke down crying again.

Lucy looked at Arakawa, and realized at that instant the type of person that should have been found more often in the world. Someone that was willing to help others to the very end, and even when she had done so much more than anyone around her to help the diclonii, and humans, in the hope of living in peace, she still felt that it wasn't enough. Lucy went over to her and hugged her.

"You did everything you could." said Lucy to her. "You did far more than what anyone else did. And in the end, you did saved many more of them. There are forty other silpelits that will have a chance at life because of you. You tried to save them when nobody else was willing to do so, whether because they didn't care or were too selfish to risk it. You showed them the affection they never had. You saw them as your children and they saw you as their mother. They cried out for you because they loved you, even if there wasn't the opportunity for them to tell you. You should know that." Lucy placed her hands on her cheeks, and looked at her eyes. "You are a wonderful person, Miss Arakawa. And I wish that there would be much more people like you in this world."

Arakawa noticed that she was being hugged by the first diclonius. And one that was supposedly so dangerous and violent that would have killed any human on sight.

"You are not killing anybody." said Arakawa to Lucy "You are even showing empathy for a human. I was right, wasn't I? Diclonii really deserve a chance at life."

Lucy gave her a light and saddened smile, and nodded. Arakawa placed her arms around Lucy for a moment, and without saying another word, she picked up 26 on her arms and kissed her forehead, and then the silpelit placed her head on Arakawa's shoulder. She still had forty children to look after, and forty more promises to fulfill.

"I hope that there is a way for humans and diclonii to live in peace." said Arakawa "We really are not so different from the other."

"Yes." said Bright. "Which leads us to the next point in our agenda. There has been a major outbreak of the diclonius virus into the general populace, and there is no time to waste. Despite the fact that the three diclonii that have been working alongside us are proof that they can be tamed and cooperative with humans, the process for this taming is long, and very difficult, since the virus does make them very inclined to become violent, and if they start acting under that influence, there is no guarantee that a war won't start. So. Arakawa. The cure."

"Yes. I will keep on working on it, as soon as possible. Maybe if I could have access to the infected children... If I could keep taking care of them... I could be more... efficient."

"Of course. I will make sure that you have access to them, and you will have any resource that we can give you, including a research team if you desire. You work for the Foundation now."

"Yes. Thank you." said Arakawa relieved.

"Also, due to the fact that the infrastructure of the Diclonius Research Institute has been severely damaged, and the traumatic experiences that the silpelits have passed within its premises, we would consider it far better if we could move them all to a different location within the Foundation's property. Perhaps site 17, since it contains a lot of room for humanoid entities."

"I would fully support that decision." said Arakawa with a bit of relieve since she also had started to hate the entire place.

"Good. Now, onto the next point." continued Bright "Lucy, Nana, and silpelit TwentySix. You three have proven to be under self control, for the most part, and you helped all of us beyond your own duties to contain all the immediate threats associated with this mission. There are no words to describe how grateful the Foundation is to you, and also humanity at large. Your involvement with this mission, however, must remain secret, and you are hereby forbidden to speak of it. Never the less, your actions do grant you a good number of advantages. First of all, for Lucy and Nana, we will make sure to rebuild the house where your family used to live. Second of all, you will be allowed to return with them if you so desire, under the condition that you will be monitored for any miss-behavior, or aggressiveness. And as for you, TwentySix, we will allow you to have a choice that no other silpelit from this facility will have. If you wish, we will let you stay awake until the cure of the diclonius virus is complete, and since you showed a great attachment to Arakawa, we will also allow you to stay with her for now, if she agrees to it. You will also be monitored for agressiveness and miss-behavior."

"I would be more than glad for it." said Arakawa immediately. Then the silpelit TwentySix nodded energetically and placed her head on Arakawa's cheek.

"Excellent. And as a reminder, if any of you fail with staying under control in the future, you will be contained and put under anesthetics until the cure be fully developed, and we can guarantee that the violent behavior does not resurface. One more thing. All of you will receive the necessary treatment to eliminate all traces of the infection once the cure is developed. There will be no arguing on this matter. It is mandatory. Do you all understand that?"

The three diclonii nodded, and Bright let out a relieved sigh.

"Good. Very good. Now leave, there will be a transport awaiting for Lucy and Nana to take them back to the cabin of the Foundation where your family will be awaiting for your return, and you will stay there until your house has been rebuilt. Arakawa, take TwentySix with you, and return to your research duties as soon as you can."

"Ahm... Mister... Can I ask you something?" said TwentySix.

"What might it be?" said Bright in a bit of a shock.

"Do you think that I could sometime visit miss Lucy and miss Nana? They have been very kind to me."

The other two diclonii placed their hands together like pleading him to agree.

"Hmmm... after the cure has been developed. It should not take too long now that Arakawa has access to the necessary resources. You can all go now."

The four women left the room, and only Clef and Bright remained.

"Now, how do we track a passive reality bender?" asked Bright to Clef.

"That really is a good question..." said Clef with a malicious smile across his face.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy and Nana were taken by helicopter back to the cabin, where every single member of their family recieved them with all their affection. The Foundation guards had been informed of the situation, and that they were no longer considered prisoners anymore, so any handcuffs were removed from them, and they were now entirely treated as actual guests.

While the Foundation was removing the ruined remains of a part of the house they were supposed to repair, one of the workers informed about a yellow dog that refused to leave the premises of the ruined house. Bright managed to hear about this and asked the family about it. As it turns out, it was Wanta, Mayu's dog, and was promptly returned to her.

After four weeks of repairings and structural reinforcement, the modifications in the house were completed, and Lucy's family was finally able to return there. Monthly checkings would be made on all of them to ensure the appropriate behavior from the diclonii, and that none of the humans would have been infected.

Since the encounter with the silpelit 39, Lucy had started to show far more security about her own actions, and a marked desire in wanting to help others. By contrast, Nana had become more reserved, and more timid. Lucy of course wished to help her, and started to ask her what was happening.

"When we were in there..." told Nana to Lucy "I saw my father insulting me and rejecting me as his daughter. I know it wasn't actually him, but it still felt like him. For the first time I really felt like he wasn't with me... and it has taken away a part of my trust on myself. And then I attacked you, Lucy, which only made things worse, since I did not even wanted to. Is this how you felt when you couldn't control yourself?"

"Yes." Answered Lucy to her. "The voice of the virus really does take advantage of you when you are at your most vulnerable point. But you are far stronger than me, Nana." Lucy placed her hand over her cheek. "The virus never took a hold on you for longer than a couple of minutes. While on me it took a hold for years. And it took me about the same time to realise the type of parasitic fraud that the voice of the virus really was, while you knew it almost from the beginning. Please don't punish yourself for it, Nana. At no point have you made any mistake that can't be undone." Lucy held her between her arms and continued. "Your father always loved you, and what you saw there was just your worst fear, which I assure you was never real, and it never will be. But if you need time to regain your confidense, I want you to know that I will be with you, every step of the way. I promise you that, sister."

Nana held Lucy in her arms tightly, and said from the bottom of her heart. "Thank you, Lucy. I don't know what I would do without you in my life." and then Nana placed her lips briefly on Lucy's cheek, and Lucy responded by placing her lips on Nana's forehead. They really felt like sisters now.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After three months since the encounter with 39, during one of the routine checks for Lucy and Nana, they received a special visit. Arakawa had appeared before them, alongside 26, and Jack Bright in the same body of Chief Kakuzawa.

26 had thrown herself to hug both Lucy and Nana, and by now she had learned to give a proper reverence to the people she had not known before, and that is how she saluted the rest of the people in the household.

Lucy had given Arakawa a particularly warm welcome, and they began a conversation.

"We have good news for everybody." started Arakawa. "The cure is finally finished. We have began deployment to the general population under a mandatory flu-vaccine, and direct treatment to the silpelits in our custody. TwentySix is, as of now, the first confirmed patient completely free from the infection. She is no longer infectious, and even better, she has confirmed that the voice of the virus has also dissapeared entirely. This means that there is hope for all the diclonii to be fully functional and adapted to human society. And after some extra psychological treatment, they will be returned to their families if they still have them, or given for adoption if they don't. I have decided to keep TwentySix as my daughter, and she has been more than happy for it. In all honesty, I would like to keep them all with me, but I can't really maintain all of them. We have brought the necessary vials with the medicine for both Lucy, and Nana."

Bright immediately took out a crystal vial with a liquid inside from a suitcase he carried, and filled two syringes with the liquid "Please take a seat, and hold still. It might sting a little, but please hold on and don't tense your muscles. And most importantly, do not use your vectors."

Nana asked to be the first, since she was far more scared of losing control than Lucy, so she wanted to get rid of the voice of the virus as soon as possible, and she received the shot over her shoulder since her arms were made of rubber. And afterwards, Lucy took a seat.

'LUCY!' she heard the screeching of the virus inside her head. 'THIS IS A MISTAKE, LUCY! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!'

Lucy allowed herself to have a smile be drawn on her face, and calmedly said in a whisper. "I win." As she felt the burning sensation of the liquid passing through her arm.

The voice kept on rambling for quite a while more. But then it began to get quieter, and quieter, and within twenty four hours from this moment, it would be completely gone forever.

Lucy stood up from her place, and to everybodie's surprise, even her own, she hugged Bright and said "Thank you." and immediately let go of him, then she turned towards Arakawa and did the same, although with her, the hug was a bit more heart-felt.

"And now, finally, I have one last gift for you." said Bright to them. "Consider it the Foundation's appreciation gift, since you really helped all of us a lot."

Bright took out from the huge suitcase, a lot of silk-fabric and threads with a coloration similar to human skin-tone, and cotton, and alongside it all, he also took out a multicolored bear, with an anatomically-correct-red-heart stitched to his chest. The bear produced scissors and needles from its mouth, and started to move and use the fabric and threads to make something similar to an elongated bag with five smaller elongations on the ending. Then it stuffed it with the cotton, and held the bag filled with cotton, that had a stark resemblance to a human arm in the air, and the cotton-arm dissappeared. Then one of Nana's rubber limbs was immediately detatched from her arm, and she found herself having it replaced with the cotton-arm on its place. She stared at it in disbelieve, and in even more disbelieve, she could FEEL the arm, and move it just as her normal arm before it got cut off.

Nana kept staring at it... and then screamed with a mixture of fear, confusion, and then eventually joy... and she started running around with her fully functioning cotton-arm extended and moving it just as a normal arm.

"AAAHHH! I HAVE A NEW ARM! I HAVE A NEW ARM! LOOK, LUCY! I HAVE A NEW ARM! AAAHHH!"

But the bear was not finished yet. He made a second arm to match the first, and then equally matching legs that all replaced the rubber legs that Nana had been using through her vectors. All perfectly functional. All perfectly anomalous. And all thanks to the ardous work of the SCP-2295, the Bear with a heart of patchwork.

By the end of it all, Nana hugged the stuffed bear and gave him her thanks, and then she did not only hugged Bright, but actually gave him one brief kiss on the cheek too, and then immediatelly went over to hug Lucy with her new arms that looked and felt just as real arms made of flesh.

For the rest of the day, Nana would spend all her time hugging her family with her new arms, and running around with her new legs. And perhaps even more grateful than Nana, Lucy also felt very much grateful for it, since at least this last wrong-doing of her was finally corrected.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the development of the cure for the diclonius virus, the silpelits at the Foundation had been given their respective doses, and were allowed to wake up one by one. Arakawa made sure to help in their psychological treatment at every point she could. She had even suggested that Lucy, Nana and the rest of their family be brought as an example of how humans and diclonii could actually be together and live in peace. They had all wholeheartedly agreed.

The silpelits had a lot of traumas with the former members of the Diclonius Research Institute, so they were all forbidden to get anywhere near any of the silpelits to avoid any possible relapse, but they were reassigned different positions at the Foundation, although with an irremovable mark for child-abuse, and therefore forbidden from getting above researcher level one at any point. Many of them resigned almost immediately, and many more resigned after the first containment breach they had to face.

The Foundation received a generous donation from the part of Chief Kakuzawa, as a way of compensation for the troubles they had faced, including full control of the island where the Diclonius Research Institute had been established, and it was repaired and reassigned as a new site for containment of different anomalies. Interestingly enough, a considerable portion of Kakuzawa's fortune was passed onto a bank account in Switzerland, under the pseudonim 'Bat Man', to which only Jack Bright had access to.

The hospitals were still being monitored for any new-born with horns in their heads. When the Foundation found one, they were immediately treated with the cure for the Diclonius Virus. The majority of them never developed their vectors afterwards, and the few who did were identified by brain-scanning, and taken into Foundation custody for a time, until they were able to control them adequatedly, and not have them accidentaly harming anyone, and later on they were returned to their families.

The silpelits who had been tortured at the Diclonius Research Institute recovered relatively quickly. Arakawa made sure to overlook the adoption process of the ones who had no direct relatives, and found them nice homes with good people to look after them. She continued to monitor their behavior and well-being even years later. The silpelit TwentySix happily helped her at this. The few silpelits that caused trouble were recontained inside the Foundation, and remain under Arakawa's custody. None of them have complained.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Small villages are always riddled with superstition. Specially when they are at the base of a mountain, and surrounded by forests. Some of the villagers swore that when visiting the forest in the top of the mountain, some of their illnesses were miraculously cured, and some even said that they felt a duty to build a shrine at the top of the mountain, big enough as to let a small family live comfortably there. Nicely decorated but not too much, and with a nicely lit chimney that should always be turned on. And behind the shrine there was always going to be a nice and comfortable chair, but that was always empty.

A visitor from afar had just passed by the village and had asked for an interesting place to visit, and the villagers had immediately mentioned the shrine at the top of the mountain.

The visitor went over to the shrine, and entered it. She was a young woman, skinny and with long and black hair, slightly curly, and also with a light skin tone. She walked over towards the front of the shrine and knelt before it and began to pray.

"I am here to ask of you a favor. But It must be spoken of in private. It would be very convenient if all the rest of the visitors to the shrine would have to go quickly to their homes, or the bathroom, since it is my desire to speak to the ThirtyNine-th Goddess living in this place."

One by one, all the people in the shrine began to leave calmedly, for different and unrelated reasons. And when only the woman was left inside, a lot of butterflies appeared from the chair behind the shrine, that all had a stark resemblance with SCP-408.

And from the chair, a little girl with pink hair and horns spoke.

"It was very wise of you to come in a body that has such a remarkable similarity to Arakawa. And it was even wiser to NOT come in Arakawa's actual body. That would have guaranteed you a one-way ticket to the center of the sun, unable to die or fall unconscious..." a powerful breeze opened the shirt of the woman, exposing the silver medallion with a red ruby behind it. "Mister Bright. Or is it Miss? Since you are in the body of a woman now."

"Lets just keep it as Doctor Bright." said the woman wearing the SCP-963.

"Hello, Doctor Bright."

"Hello, silpelit 39. I see that you have made yourself at home. Is this shrine supposed to remind you that you are to be worshipped as a goddess?"

39 looked at Bright with disdain for a second, but then it dissipated. "Gods and goddesses are just words made up by the first men when they were surrounded by a world that they feared and did not understand. I am just a child with too much power. And I'm here trying to help the ones that come with problems that maybe I could solve, with a little effort. After all, I have seen inside the minds of thousands by now. All their knowlege and experiences. All their fears. All their problems. All their dreams. I pity them. I wanted to help them, to be better than the ones that caused me so much pain. I try to relieve the pain of others."

Bright took a deep breath and let it out with a bit of relieve. "Maybe this will work out after all."

"You have come a long way to visit my little home. What are you doing here, doctor Bright?"

"I'm just following the example of a couple of idiots that somehow managed to tame several violent and dangerous SCPs by being kind to them."

"Are you trying to befriend me, Bright?"

"Something similar. I'm here to make you an offer."

"I'm all ears."

"The Earth is fragile. Humanity is fragile." Said Bright to the pink haired girl. "The SCP Foundation is always trying to prevent major disasters that could lead all human life into extinction. But there is always a limit to what we can do. The time will come when we have to face a real threat. Maybe an interdimensional entity sworn on destroying or conquering this world, or consuming the universe. Or maybe we will find a hostile type 2 or type 3 civilization in the Kardashev scale. And when that happens, we better be prepared, or we will be annihilated. But having a Reality Bender on our side might be a good first step to survive such invasion. For years we have been trying to find a reality bender that could be reliable and in which we can trust just the bare minimum to protect the Earth, and if possible, humanity."

"And you expect me to be this Reality Bender?"

"Can't hurt to try."

"That is what you require from me. But you said you had something to offer. What is it?"

"The SCP Foundation is not the only organization that has an interest in anomalies, we are focused on keeping the anomalies safe from themselves, and from others, so that they won't cause damage. However, there are other organizations with different objectives. In particular, the Global Occult Coalition is one that is decided to destroy all the anomalies, including Reality Benders. If you would join us, we might be able to give you some extra protection."

She kept quiet for a while, and then said "Lets suppose that I accept. What would stop you from putting me to sleep the instant I cross into your Foundation's buildings? I mean, I could just torch it all, or turn it all into marshmallows, they are tasty after all. I would be a constant threat in there. Most of you would see me as such."

"The Foundation personnel is human. Humans have a tendency to see little girls with more mercy than any other creature, and you so happen to look exactly as one. But you are right, there are some people at the Foundation that will always see you as a threat. In fact, some of them might try to kill you."

"Let me guess. Alto Clef."

"Yeah... he can be a real peach. He could attack you even if you are cooperative with us. He hates Reality Benders above everything. Although I'm note entirely sure of why, since he has a lot of things in common with them... and you cannot ask him directly, since he is a compulsive liar, so anything he says cannot be fully trusted. Maybe he is a Reality Bender himself and wants to eliminate the competence so he becomes the ruler of the universe some day, or maybe he is resented towards Reality Benders because one of them might have ruined his life at some point. Or maybe he is just a very skilled and enthusiastic Hunter of Reality Benders, and does it as a sport. I honestly don't know. He plays games of his own doing. And even when I have worked with him many times, I still cannot put my full trust in him, because his objectives may not be aligned with the best interests of the Foundation, or humanity at all."

"So I would risk being attacked by members of your Foundation even if I were subservient to them. Again, why would I accept joining you?"

Bright didn't have a clear answer. She didn't need the Foundation. She didn't need anyone in particular, as she could just warp reality and bring anything she wanted into existence. But she had shown attachment towards Arakawa.

"Would you like to be close to Arakawa? She is working with us at Site-17."

"Arakawa." she said her name with a certain level of sweetness. "I really, really like her. She is kind. And has such a pretty voice when she sings. But she got harmed by my fault. She probably doesn't want to see me. I know she isn't my mother, but I would have liked to have a mother just like her. And I know she did saw me as her daughter, or at least she wanted to."

"I think she would like to know that you are safe. And I know that you want to be beside her, maybe you could even help her, or protect her if she ever needs it."

The little girl looked at the ground. She really wanted that. "Still, what would I do about Clef? You already said that he might try to kill me."

"You already made a decoy convincing enough as to make everyone believe that you were dead. Maybe you could do something similar, and make him think he succeeded, when in fact you would be safe."

"Or I could just stay safe without going there in the first place."

Bright stood there, looking at the girl in silence. She was way too smart for her age. Way too smart for any age. "I see that there is no convincing you."

"Meh... I might think about it. Eternity really can get boring, so I suppose at some point I might join your Foundation, at least for a while."

"Oh. I forgot to mention. The cure for the diclonius virus is ready, and it would be my suggestion that you take it, since the virus itself can tunr you violent against humans."

"Bright... The instant I woke up at the Diclonius Research Institute, I heard the voice of the virus inside my head, and I fount it as nothing but a nuance, and I wished that the entire thing would dissapear. I have not had a trace of the virus in my body ever since. I have not had a trace of anything damaging in my body at all. I have been perfectly clean for almost a year now."

Bright laughed. "Those are some good news, I suppose. I really wish I could have convinced you of coming with us. We could have really given you a place in the world, and we could have really used your abilities."

"I guess I will have to find my own place in the world." she told him. "Or make my own world... maybe terraform Mars. That might be nice."

"Yeah. I guess so... Good bye, silpelit 39."

"Good bye, Doctor Bright."

Bright left the shrine and walked down the mountain. When he reached the base of the Mountain, he found Alto Clef in the village.

"Well?" asked Clef to Bright.

"She does not seem to want to harm anybody. Perhaps at some point she will come to the Foundation by her own will."

"I still think that we should terminate her."

"Clef. I found her first, and that is why I tried my method first. If something bad happens at any point, you have my blessing to kill her however you like. That is if I don't terminate her before you do."

"Fine. Whatever. I will keep an eye on her... or perhaps a couple hundred eyes on her."

"I would not expect anything less from you, Clef."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The office where Arakawa worked at now was always tidy. And from time to time she heard an alarm sounding, as either a signal of a test going on, or a containment breach, although the latter were quite rare.

Today in particular seemed as a calmed day. She had found Doctor Kondraki on her way back to her office, and he had started to question her out of curiosity.

"I understand that you were the one that alerted the Foundation of those little kids with short-range telekinesis, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" she said.

"Curiosity. How exactly did you know about the Foundation in the first place?"

Arakawa's expression turned dark and somber.

"My sister. She worked for the Foundation as a researcher. She had talked to me about the creatures and horrible things that they had locked in there. She seemed to be fascinated by them, and that she had befriended several of the researchers here. But the job she had was to research over SCP-173, you know the one, the deadly sculpture that moves when nobody is looking at it, and breaks people's necks from behind their backs. Then there was a power outage during the night, and that night that sculpture killed over twenty people on the floor it was kept, my sister among them. Bright and other researchers gave me their condolences, and gave me a contact number in case I needed anything. And then one day, I simply needed somebody that would help me find a cure for a disease that turned little girls into mass murderers with paranormal powers, and to stop the Institute that was trying to release the disease into the world. So here we are now. I still sometimes miss my sister."

"I'm very sorry to hear that." said Kondraki. "Working at the Foundation is not always so terrible. But it does have its perils."

There was a brief silence for a moment, and then Kondraki remembered something else.

"I forgot to mention," said Kondraki "you have been assigned to look after a new SCP. Since the majority of the silpelits in your charge have already been adopted by now, there really is the need for your help in other areas."

"Me?" asked Arakawa perplexed "But why?"

"I'm not sure, it was an order from an O5. Way above the ranks of the Foundation, you know."

"Really? And what is it?"

"Well... since you seem to be fond of little girls, you might like this one. It's a little girl that can bend reality at her will, but she isn't aware of her powers. So maybe we can control her by telling her that she is a witch with limited power, and that she can only use a book of 'spells' that the Foundation has approved previously."

Arakawa thought about somebody... but no, it couldn't be.

"Oh... well... if I can help her, then sure. What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know either. All I know is that you have to go to her containment cell at your earliest convenience. They will give you further instructions there."

"Ah...OK?" This was out of the ordinary. Kondraki was usually well informed of the procedures she would have to carry out with any SCP they would have under their custody. "And which number is her cell?"

"She has been assigned the number SCP-239. The orders were signed as 'urgent' so you might want to put a rush on that."

Arakawa, just nodded and went to the containment cell of the newly found SCP-239: The witch child. And there, she found a guard that gave her an envelope that read: 'Play with her one game of your choosing every week, and sing to her one song before she falls asleep every night.' Those were instructions out of the ordinary with any other SCP she had ever been put in charge of. She entered the chamber, and she saw a little blonde girl, with a shimmer in her eyes, and a wide welcoming smile, that seemed to be happy to see her, almost as if she would know her already.

"Hello. I'm Sigurros. Are you my new friend?"

Arakawa felt an inner happiness the instant that the little girl had spoken. "Hi. You can call me Arakawa. And yes, I will be your new friend."

The little girl ran towards Arakawa and firmly embraced her.

"I'm so happy that you are here ma... my new friend." she said looking at Arakawa with a smile, and Arakawa thought that she saw a small tear forming in her eyes, that she immediately whipped clean. "I am very happy for it miss Arakawa. What do you want to play?"

Arakawa felt as if this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And not even once, during the entire time that they met each other, did SCP-239 used her powers on Arakawa, not even by accident, because if they were going to be friends, it would be because they both wanted it so, and not just because SCP-239 had bent reality to match her desire.

For some reason that Arakawa never understood, Bright always laughed every time that he passed near that containment cell, and read the containment procedures for SCP-239. That was probably one of the many excentricities of Bright, he sometimes laughed at several containment procedures of many SCPs, in particular some humanoid reality benders.

\----------------------------

After the 'Clef-Kondraki-incident', Arakawa's memories of working with SCP-239 were wiped clean without any apparent reason, but she still felt sorry for the little blonde girl sleeping in her bed.

In an unrelated note, that same week, a giant oasis was apparently formed out of nowhere over the desertic surface of Mars. The oasis is still pending the assignment of an SCP-number. In an apparently disconnected event, a giant metheor that was heading towards Earth was deviated by another giant asteroid that had come from Mars. Both asteroids destroyed eachother, and did not represent a threat towards Earth anymore.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Item number: Pending official assignation, temporary code SCP-D1

Object Class: (Keter) Safe.

Special Containment Procedures:

All instances of SCP-D1-1, SCP-D1-2, and SCP-D1-3 are to be considered highly infectious until proven otherwise. All instances of SCP-D1-1 and SCP-D1-3 must be prevented from any reproductive attempts, especially between them, since this has proven extremely dangerous, resulting in unforseeable effects, including the creation of hostile Reality Benders.

All instances of SCP-D1-1 and SCP-D1-2 must be kept away from any non-infected human subjects. All instances of SCP-D1-1, -2, and -3 are to be given three meals a day, proper hydration, medical attention when needed or requested, and given the chance to have proper exercise. None of the instances of SCP-D1-1, -2, or -3 are allowed to leave the premises of Site-17. Any and all instances of SCP-D1-1 and -2 must be befriended by at least two members of the Foundation with level 1 but not above, and each foundation member cannot have more than one befriended instance of SCP-D1-1 or -2, unless a level four supervisor allows for more than one.

All instances of SCP-D1-1 and -2 are to be kept with an electric charge attached to a necklace, that can be remotely activated at any moment, and they must be made aware of this fact.

Somniferous gas pumps must be prepared to be used inside all the containment cells of SCP-D1-1, -2, and -3 in case of an attempted containment breach. If despite all of this, there is a containment breach, the use of any type of force, including lethal, is allowed to prevent any instance from escaping.

If any instance of SCP-D1-1 or -2 becomes hostile, it must be made clear to them that their actions will be met with retaliation against their befriended Foundation members.

REVISION OF CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES:

The blood sample containing SCP-D1 will be kept in a crystal vial inside a fridge under a combination-and-key-locked safe at site-17 at a temperature of -30°C, in order to prevent its destruction. Any future research on it will be made by creating a copy of the sample through SCP-038, the Everything Tree, and only members of level 3 or above are able to access it, and only under the written approval of an O5 beforehand.

Due to the fact that an anti-virus has been developed [Please read the addendums], all infected instances of SCP-D1-1, -2, and -3 must be given the proper dosage to cure them from the disease. This will not take away the "vectors" of instances SCP-D1-1 or -2, nor their "horns", but will make the subject non-infectious, with lower aggression propensities, and even cooperative with humans. Also any offspring generated by them will be an ordinary human being. In light of this, the new containment procedures are as follow:

Any instance of SCP-D1-1 and -2 that have been treated will be allowed to undergo psychological treatment, and will be given the opportunity to return into human society. If they refuse they will remain in containment as before, although they will not be treated as contagious anymore.

All instances of SCP-D1-3 that have been treated will be given type-B amnesiacs, and reintegrated into society, under false premises of having a cranial concussion and amnesia to explain their disappearance to their families.

\---------

Description:

SCP-D-001 is a virus that modifies the external appearance of the offspring of any human subject infected by it, and gives them cranial-bone-structures similar to horns, pseudo-telekinetical powers with limited range, which is manifested in transparent arms and hands that extend from a couple of meters to several dozens of meters, and have been given the name "vectors". The virus can potentially make SCP-D1-1 and -2 highly aggressive towards non-infected human beings through the manifestation of what they have described as "a voice inside their heads" that continuously encourages them to attack non infected humans. All subjects that present these symptoms are collectively known as "Diclonius" for singular, or "Diclonii" for plural.

The origin of the virus is unknown, but it seems to be related to the actions of the Kakuzawa family, utilizing what was known as the Diclonius Research Institute, in an apparent obsession for spreading their DNA through the world. However, the original carrier of the infection, a female known as "Lucy", seems to be unrelated to any of the Kakuzawa blood line. She is the first known instance of SCP-D1-1. She presents all the symptoms mentioned above, and is the first known Diclonius capable of having offspring of her own. However, since the last Director of the Diclonius Research Institute unleaashed the infection into the general populace, more instances of SCP-D1-1 have been found.

However, the infection is able to be transferred to other human-beings by use of the "vectors" as transmitters. Any human infected by this method is considered an SCP-D1-3, and is a carrier of the virus, but will not present any of the symptoms mentioned above. Any offspring that any SCP-D1-3 has is an instance of SCP-D1-2, which will be, in 100% of cases, a female, and will present all the symptoms mentioned above, but cannot have offspring of their own. However, they can transfer the infection by means of their own vectors.

Despite the fact that most instances of SCP-D1-1 and -2 are extremely aggressive towards humans, there is enough evidence to suggest that befriending a human being will make them far less likely to attack any human being. The stronger the bond, the less aggressive the subject will be. This however, is not a guarantee for safety, and they must still be treated as highly dangerous.

Due to the high infectivity of SCP-D1, it must be regarded as a potential cause for a DK-class world-wide-conflict scenario with potential extinction consequences, or an SK-class dominace-shift scenario.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Addendum SCP-D1-A1:

[Date expunged]: An effective treatment has been discovered to eliminate the infection caused by the SCP-D1 virus, and will be administered to every infected subject, and will be massively delivered along the next "flu-vaccine" to ensure that the infection be fully eradicated both inside and outside the Foundation and from the general population.

\- Dr. Arakawa. Researcher level 3, in charge of the SCP-D1 wing at site 17.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Addendum SCP-D1-A2:

[Date expunged]: There has been no new discovery of any instance of SCP-D1-1 or SCP-D1-2 since the implementation of the "flu-vaccine-delivery" method, which suggests that the infection has been effectively eradicated. This must not be an excuse for lowering our guard, since any new outbreak of this virus could still be a potential human-extinction-driver.

\- Dr. Jack Bright. Researcher level 4.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Addendum SCP-D1-A3:

[Date expunged]: Under O5-[redacted]'s command, there is now an implemented methodology that will allow former instances of SCP-D1-1 and SCP-D1-2 to engage and adapt into human society if they so desire, as long as they are sworn extreme secrecy about their vectors and the Foundation, undergo a psychological treatment to prevent any aggression against humans, and that any violation to the secrecy or unnecessary violence towards humans will be met with permanent recontainment into the facility.

\- Dr. Jack Bright. Researcher level 4.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Addendum SCP-D1-A4:

[Date expunged]: The psychological treatment of the instances of SCP-D1-1, and -2 that have been under the Foundation's custody has proven to be effective, and their reintegration into society, through the adoption process shall begin shortly.

By the way, I would like to thank all the members of the Foundation for giving the diclonii a chance to adapt to society. I really appreciate that, and I am quite sure that the diclonii really apreciate that too. Thanks to all of you.

\- Dr. Arakawa. Researcher level 3, in charge of the SCP-D1 wing at site 17.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a funny extra chapter / joke ending for this story, in case you are interested on ending on a high-note with a laughter:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698115?view_adult=true


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